


Mystery Universe

by KillerDean



Category: Gravity Falls, Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Crossover, F/M, just a fun fic really, slight angst
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-05
Updated: 2020-11-04
Packaged: 2021-03-02 17:08:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 28,245
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24020329
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KillerDean/pseuds/KillerDean
Summary: Steven goes to Gravity falls and gets a job. This takes place post SUF, but during GF. I’m not good at summaries
Relationships: Connie Maheswaran/Steven Universe
Comments: 104
Kudos: 906





	1. Chapter 1

It’s a quiet morning in the forest, the sun barely rising and the birds are only starting to stir. The only thing that disrupts the stillness is a little grey car, driving down the winding road. Inside sits a teenager, no older than 18, humming along to a familiar song. His family suggested he settle down for the summer, to pick up a job and spend a few months in one place. Previously, he had been driving around the country, taking in the beauty of it, as he discovered himself. But that journey started nearly a full year ago, and so he was advised to relax in one place before making a decision; to continue, or to go home. He wanted to find somewhere small; something quiet and simple. He had had enough adventures for one lifetime. As the sun climbed higher in the sky, the teen turned left onto the road that would lead him to a summer full of strange and unusual things. 

——— 

Steven had heard about this town from Connie. She had some family that lived in a neighboring city in Oregon, and when visiting them with Connie they mentioned it. It was a one off comment, just mentioning a strange tourist trap within the town, but for some reason it stuck with him. He decided to have a look, to see if this would be the place that he would spend his summer. He drove past a water tower with the name of the town painted onto it in dark red lettering: Gravity Falls. 

Steven drove around the town, taking in the sight of things. It was quite small, probably smaller than Beach City. Another thing he noticed is that it was quiet. Sure, there was the ambient noise of people, but it was a lot quieter than Beach City, and basically everywhere else he visited. He watched as people went about their day, doing normal human things. That’s something he had enjoyed during this trip; Human things. He had gotten more in touch with his human side within the last year; going so far as making a conscious effort to not use his powers. That took some time to get used to, and thanks to a little more than a full year of therapy, it now takes a lot to have him turn pink. He still gets panic attacks, usually at night, when his brain has time to overthink. But no one is around to see him glow. 

He smiles at a woman he realized he had locked eyes with. Well, eye. One of her blue eyelids seemed to stay shut, stuck in a permanent wink. She waved at him, and he waved back.

He came to the edge of the main town area, where the road took a sharp turn into the forest. He passed my several signs, mounted on trees, all pointed down the road. They said various things, from “Amazing!” to “Beware!” The last one he saw was a sign that read, “This Way to the Mystery Shack!”

He kept driving, a sense of anxiety started rising in him as he got closer and closer. But it was a good kind of anxiety; the kind you feel on Christmas eve as a child, unable to sleep in anticipation for what the morning brings. He felt this now as the Mystery Shack came into view. It was an old house, probably 40 years old or so, and it looked pretty run down. On top of the house stood a grand sign that read ‘Mystery Shack,’ but the ‘S’ of the Shack had fallen, and was now resting on the roofing below the main sign. He drove past a totem pole, and pulled into a parking space. He got out of the car, and took a deep breath, the air smelled heavily of pine and dirt.

As he walked towards the Shack, he heard a voice. He saw a man in front of the entrance to the building, leading a crowd of people. As Steven got closer, he saw the crowd staring at a podium with something on it.

“And this,” he whipped a small blanket off of the item on the podium, “Is the rock that looks like a face!” The man leading the group said.

At first glance, the man just looked like a guy in a suit, but the more Steven looked, the more things he noticed about the man's ensemble. He wore a fez, an eyepatch that was probably just for show, and held a cane topped with an 8 ball. He spoke with a booming voice, like an announcer at a sports game. Steven went to have a closer look. The man seemed to be trying to answer the confusing questions of one of the tour members. Steven joined the back of the group as they began to move to their next exhibit. As Steven passed by the man, he felt something grab at the back of the collar of his jacket.

“Woah, kid. Want to join the group, you have to pay. My tours ain’t free,” the man rubbed his thumb against his fore and middle finger in the universal sign for ‘money.’

“Oh! Right,” Steven pulled out a wad of cash he had in his pocket and handed the man a $50, “Here you go!” 

The man looked at the bill in amazement. He looked back up at the kid and smiled.

“Welcome aboard kid! My name is Stan Pines, but you can call me Mister Mystery. And welcome to my humble museum for the strange and unusual!”

Mister Mystery put his arm around Steven and led him back to the group, which had now entered the building. Mister Mystery let go of Steven and resumed his position at the head of the group.

“Behold! The Sascrotch!”

The mad pointed towards what looked like a stuffed Sasquatch suit wearing underwear. Everyone seemed to be amazed at it, but Steven let out a small laugh. It was so obviously fake, it was funny. But, ‘it’s the nature of tourist traps. 

As the group continued, so did he, lingering in the back and taking it all in. The exhibits appeared all to be fake, but they were entertaining nonetheless. Soon enough, he had found his way into the gift shop, and he bought a bumper sticker that said, ‘What is the Mystery Shack?’ As he was leaving, though, he noticed a small sign in the window. 

‘Help Wanted.’

And that when he decided that this would be where he spent his summer.


	2. First Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steven gets a job

Steven went back into the gift shop and sought out Mister Mystery.

He found him in the back of the gift shop, talking to a boy, and handing him a bunch of signs. He pointed at the door and the boy walked out.

“Excuse me,” Steven said, getting the man’s attention.

He turned around and smiled at him.

“Welcome back, my good sir! What can I help you with?” He asked.

“Well, I saw your sign,” Steven pointed at the help wanted sign in the window, “and was wondering if the position was still open.”

Mister Mystery nodded his head, “Yep! That spot is most definitely still opened. And if you want the job, you’re hired! You’re the first person to ask,” he turned and motioned for Steven to follow him. Steven followed him to what looked like his office, and sat in the chair in front of his desk. 

“So what’s your previous job experience like?” Mister Mystery asked, rifling through some files in a cabinet by his desk. 

“Well, uh,” Steven looked around nervously. How do you explain to a human that you were a galactic ambassador for two years of your life?

“Um, I was a sales clerk at a donut shop,” was all Steven was able to say. All of his other ‘professions’ were wrapped in gem stuff, and this road trip was about being human.

“Got experience in customer service I see, perfect,” Mister Mystery closed the cabinet he was looking in and opened the one below it, “now where is that stupid paperwork,” he muttered.

Just then, Steven remembered.

“Uh, so, the thing is, I don’t have a social security number. Is that okay?” He asked.

Mister Mystery looked up at him before closing the drawer he was looking in and smiled, “Kid, that’s perfect, less paperwork for me,” he held out his hand, “You’re hired!”

Steven smiled wide. He just got his first paying job! And it was a lot easier than he’d thought. He shook Mister Mystery’s hand.

“Thank you, Mister Mystery!”

Stan smiled, “Please, calls me Mr. Pines.”

Steven nodded, “Okay, thank you Mr. Pines!”

And with that, Steven became an official staff member of the Mystery Shack

—————

Steven got back into his car, buzzing with excitement. This was going to be his first job that didn’t include gems, and he was ready for it. Mr. Pines said he would mainly just be working the gift shop, trying to get customers to ‘empty their pockets,’ as he put it. Which seemed simple enough to Steven. He turned on the ignition and realized he had no place to stay for the summer. Maybe he can find a room to rent somewhere in town tomorrow, but tonight he had to find a motel. He pulled up maps on his phone, and searched up motels in the area. As Steven drove off towards his destination, the Mystery Shack faded into the distance, and disappeared as he rounded a corner. He made it to the motel, got a room, and sat on the bed. Tomorrow would be his first real day of work; work at a museum for the weird. Steven laughed at that. He knew first hand what was ‘weird’ to humans, and the idea that he, probably the weirdest thing on earth, would be working there gave him a chuckle. He turned off the lights and crawled into bed. This would certainly be an interesting summer.

The next morning, Steven woke up early. His excitement for what the first day of work would bring woke him up around 7 am. He spent a couple of hours searching online for rooms for rent, and had no luck. It seemed like there was no place to rent in all of Gravity Falls. He frowned, unsure of how to proceed. He’ll just have to stay at the motel until he can figure out what to do. At 9 am, his alarm went off, signaling to him that his shift would start in 30 minutes. He took a quick shower, ate breakfast, and headed out to the Mystery Shack.

Steven was buzzing with excitement as he walked through the door into the Mystery Shack gift shop. It was empty aside from Stan and a red headed girl, who sat behind the register.

“Welcome back, kid,” Stan said, giving him a little wave, “This is Wendy, she’s gonna train you.”

Stan pointed at the girl behind the register, and she gave Steven a little wave. Steven waved back. She stood up and walked over to him and Stan.

“Sup, I’m Wendy,” she said, giving Steven a welcoming smile. 

“I’m Steven, Steven Universe,” he held out a hand to Wendy. She shook it.

“That’s an epic last name, did you have it changed or was that your parents’ name?” Wendy put her hands back into her jean pockets. 

Steven scratched the back of his neck.

“Well, it’s my dad’s last name, but he had it changed. He was a musician and he thought Greg Universe sounded better than Greg DeMayo.”

Wendy frowned, “Greg Universe? Why does that sound familiar?”

“Well, he was a musician, maybe you heard one of his songs?” Steven suggested. 

“Hm, maybe? But I feel like it’s something else…” she shrugged, “I’ll think of it later. But now I gotta tell you how to do stuff.”

Wendy proceeded to spend the next 2 hours teaching Steven how to run the gift shop. He got a little stuck on the register, but by the end of the 2 hours, he put in charge. Well, technically Wendy was still in charge, but she was sitting on the ground reading a magazine while Steven manned the register.

“If you have any questions, I’m right here,” she said before settling down to read her magazine. 

Business was pretty slow, but that was a given considering it was a Monday. A few people had come through, but they mainly bought mugs and bumper stickers. Steven managed to sell a shirt, but that was the biggest purchase all day and it was already 3 pm. Steven drummed his fingers against the countertop of the cash wrap, trying to tap a tune to keep himself entertained. He found himself drumming the tune to Working Dead by Sadie Killer and the Suspects. It’s been a while since he has talked to them. He should call them after work. He started humming the lyrics, forming the song with the tapping of his fingers.

“Dude, are you humming Working Dead?”

Steven looked towards the floor to see Wendy looking at him.

“Yeah, I am. It’s a fun song.”

A huge smile formed on her face, “I love Sadie Killer and the suspects! Their music is so good, and I love their whole vibe!”

“I know right! Fun fact, that song was created while we were watching horror movies in Sadie's basement!” Steven smiled at the fond memory.

“Wait,” Wendy stood up, “We, what do you mean by we? You were there?”

Steven nodded, “Yeah! We were watching The Lurch and Sour Cream liked the background music, so he started mixing, adding drum beats and stuff, then Jenny started playing her bass, and I joined on the electric guitar. Buck joined on his acoustic guitar and then we just needed lyrics. Sadie had just gotten off of work, so she started singing about it. And boom! Working Dead was born, and Sadie Miller became Sadie Killer. And that’s how the band formed.”

Wendy’s mouth was agape and she looked stunned.

“You… were there… oh my god,” her eyes widened as she realized something, “your dad is Greg Universe! Their manager! I knew that name sounded familiar.”

Steven gave a little laugh, “That he is. He has some experience in ‘show biz.’”

Wendy pulled out her phone, “I’m soooo telling my friends about this,” she sat back down on the floor and started texting.

The next few minutes passed in silence, with only the faint clicks of a keyboard to break it. But that silence is broken by a shriek. Steven stood up quickly, worried that someone might be in trouble. Suddenly, a girl runs into the gift shop, followed by a boy. They both looked pretty young; probably only around 12. The girl was laughing, holding something in her hand as the boy chased her.

“Mabel! Give it back!” The boy yelled

“Come and get it then!”

The boy tackled the girl and they wrestled on the ground as the boy tried to grab the item. The girl locked eyes with Steven and shouted, “Catch!” before throwing the object at him. Steven caught it effortlessly and saw that it was an almost solved Rubik’s cube. Steven looked up from it to see the boy on the other side of the counter.

“Can I Please have that back? I’m so close to solving it,” the boy said.

Steven smiled at him and handed it back. 

The girl, who he presumed was Mabel, pouted, “You’re not supposed to give it back to him!”

Steven shrugged, “Sorry.” 

The boy scowled at his sister before looking back at Steven, “Thanks! I’m Dipper by the way, and this is Mabel,” he pointed at the girl.

“Whomp whoooomp,” she said.

Steven smiled and gave them both a little wave, “Hi! I’m Steven, nice to meet you.”

Wendy popped up from behind the counter.

“Hey Mabel, hey Dipper,” she turned to face Steven, “these are Mr. Pines’s twin great niece and nephew. They’re staying here for the summer.”

Steven looked back to see Dipper working on the Rubik’s cube while Mabel stared at him. 

“That sounds like fun. I’m going to be staying in Gravity Falls for the summer too! Although, I have yet to find a place to stay.”

He looked at Wendy to see he had started texting again, “Um, Wendy?”

She doesn’t look up from her phone, “Yeah?”

“Know any places in town that are renting? Right now I’m staying in the Moonlight All-Night Motel,” Steven asked.

Wendy shook her head, “Not that I’m aware of.”

Mabel’s face lit up, “You can rent a room here!”

Steven twiddles his thumbs, “Uh, I don’t want to impose…”

“Pfft,” Mabel waved her hand dismissively at him, “It’s no big deal! I’ll ask Grunkle Stan right now!” 

Before Steven could protest, she ran behind a door that said ‘Employees Only.’

Dipper sighed, “I’ll go talk to her.”

And with that, the twins had both left the gift shop. Steven mulled over the idea of staying at the Mystery Shack over the summer. He would certainly be closer to work, and it was better than the motel for sure. 

‘If Mr. Pines says yes to Mabel, then maybe, but for now, I should get back to work,’ Steven thought just as a group of tourists came into the gift shop.

———

As Steven cleaned up the shop, preparing to close, Mr. Pines walked in.

Stan gives Steven a pat on the back, “Wendy tells me you did a good job! Congrats on your first day of work. Now, just because you did good today, doesn’t mean you get to slack off. I already got one lazy teenager, I don’t need another one. Wait, how old did you say you were again?”

“Eighteen,”

“Okay, so still a teenager, I was right,” Stan muttered.

He frowned, appearing to be deep in thought.

Steven waited for him to say something. When he didn’t, Steven went back to sweeping.

“Mabel tells me you don’t have a place to stay,” 

Steven turned around to see Stan looking at him,

He laughed nervously, “Yeah, I rolled into town only yesterday. And I tried looking online this morning to see if there were any places nearby that were renting, but I couldn’t find anything.”

Stan smiled, “Well, there's a room open in this very house! Rent is only... $300 a month.”

Steven mulled it over. He’d only be staying here for around three months, and so $300 times 3 would be.. $900. He’d have to ask his dad to give him some more cash, but he has enough for at least one month.

Steven nodded, “Sound good, I can do that.”

Stan smiled. This kid was loaded!

“Great! Come back here with your stuff while I have the room prepped. Soos!” Stan yelled.

The ‘Employees Only’ door opened and in walked in who Steven suspected was the handyman, judging by the tool belt he wore. 

“Sup Mr. Pines? Whatcha need?”

Stan gestured towards Steven.

“Get the spare room prepped for someone to live in, I’m letting this kid rent it.”

“Will do Mr. Pines!” With that, Soos turned and walked back through the door he came from.

Stan turned back towards Steven.

“The room will probably be ready in 30 minutes, be back by then. You can leave now.”

Steven nodded, “Will do!”

Steven put the broom away before waving a goodbye to Stan and fussing out the door. He hurried back to his motel room, and packed him. This summer was already off to a great start, and he was ready for everything else it would bring.


	3. Tourist trapped

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It’s been a week since Steven had been working at the Mystery Shack, and things seemed relatively calm... for now

A week had passed since Steven started working at the Mystery Shack, and things had been relatively calm. He had talked to some really cool people, tourists that were passing through. That was probably his favorite part of the job, talking to all the different people that came through the Mystery Shack, and hearing their stories. He listened to the tale of a man that had climbed Mt. Everest, talked with a bunch of people who were CONVINCED that the moon was made of cheese, and laughed with a girl who had a wicked sense of humor. The summer had started off very well, and overall, Steven loved working at the Mystery Shack. Sure, Mr. Pines can be a jerk sometimes, but there were moments that Steven caught that showed he genuinely cared about the workers of the Shack. 

Steven was sitting at the breakfast table when Dipper walked into the kitchen, joining him. He sat down at the table and sighed, looking at a video recorder.

“Hey Dipper, are you okay?” Steven asked.

Dipper sighed again, looking up from the video recorder, “No, have you noticed anything weird about Mabel’s new boyfriend?”

Steven took a second to think about it, “Kinda? He seems strange, and I don’t hang out with teenagers often enough to know if he’s strange for a teenager. Why, what’s up?”

Dipper looked back down at his video recorder and started playing back footage.

“I don’t know, but there is something definitely off about him. I just don’t have any proof- WAIT, WHAT?” Dipper stood up abruptly.

“What is it?” Steven asked, getting out of his chair to look at the screen of the video recorder. He watched Dipper playback a video, where Norman’s hand falls off.

“That can’t be good,” Steven says.

“I was right!” Dipper quickly turns off the recorder, putting down on the table, “I knew he was a zombie!”

Steven looked at him confused, “Zombie?”

“Yeah, but not time to explain,” Dipper ran out of the room, “I HAVE TO SAVE MABEL!”

Steven ran after him, not wanting to leave him alone in rescuing Mabel, in case it was a real threat. He and Dipper ran outside, looking for Mr. Pines. They found him leading a tour group, and showing on the rock that looks like a face.

“Grunkle Stan!” Dipper shouted, trying to get his attention. 

As Dipper shouted, Steven noticed Wendy pulling up in the golf cart behind him. 

“Dipper!” He said, pointing at the golf cart.

Dipper nodded his head and ran over to Wendy.

“Wendy! Wendy!” He shouted, “ I need to borrow the golf cart so I can save my sister from a zombie!”

Wendy just smiled before handing him the keys, “Try not to hit any pedestrians!”

Dipper and Steven jumped into the golf cart and started to speed off when they were stopped by Soos.

“Dude, it’s me, Soos. This is for the zombies,” he said, handing Steven a shovel.

“Thanks,” Steven said.

Soos then handed Steven a baseball bat, and this is in case you see a piñata.”

“Uh, thanks?” Steven said, more quizzically this time.

“Better safe than sorry!” Soos yelled as they sped off.

They had been frantically driving around the forest when they heard a cry for help.

“That was Mabel!” Dipper yelled, taking a hard left towards the direction of the scream. 

They drove down a path the seemed to dip under some tree roots, and had it not been for the current situation, this would be pretty cool. Dipper started to slow down as they came to a clearing, and saw Mabel standing in the middle of it, surrounded by… gnomes?

“Let go of me!” Mabel yelled at a gnome biting her sweater sleeve. She ripped it off, and punched it in it’s gut before kicking another gnome and sending it flying. Steven watched as it landed on its back, where it stood up and proceeded to puke rainbows.

Steven and Dipper got out of the cart, weapons at the ready.

“What the HECK is going on here?” Dipper exclaimed.

A gnome ran by them and hissed.

“Dipper! Steven! Norman turned out to be a bunch of gnomes,” he punched another gnome, “and they’re total jerks!” 

A gnome grabbed Mabel’s hair and pulled, “Ow! Hair, hair, hair!”

“Gnomes?” Steven said. He looked down to see Dipper pull out an old weathered looking journal out of his vest. 

“Huh, I was way off,” Dipper said, flipping to a page labeled ‘Gnomes.’ 

He began to read the page out loud, “Gnomes, little men of the Gravity Falls forest. Weakness: Unknown.” 

They both looked up to see Mabel tied to the ground.

“Hey!” Steven ran up to the closest gnome, who seemed to be whe leader, “let go of her!”

Dipper ran up behind him, “Let go of my sister!”

The brown haired gnome turned around, “Oh, haha, hey there!” The little gnome waved at them, “This is all really just a big misunderstanding, ya see? Your sister’s not in danger. She’s just marrying all one thousand of us and becoming our gnome queen for all eternity! Isn’t that right honey?”

He looked back at Mabel.

“You guys are butt-faces!” Mabel shouted at him before a gnome put his hand over her mouth.

The gnome smiled at them, as if what he said made perfect sense.

“Dude,” Steven gestured at her, “she’s, like, 12. That’s really creepy.”

Dipper raised his shovel, “Give her back right now or else!”

Steven raised his bat. He was ready to throw down with some tiny people if it meant getting Mabel back.

The lead gnome pointed up at them, “You think you can stop us, boy? You have no idea what we’re capable of. The gnomes are a powerful race! Do not trifle with the-“

His mini speech was cut short and Dipper scooped him up with a shovel and threw them off to the side. Steven and Dipper ran over to Mabel, and Dipper cut the rope binding Mabel to the ground while Steven started hitting gnomes like baseballs, sending them flying. Mabel jumped up and the three of them ran to the golf cart. Steven jumped in the driver's seat this time.

“Seatbelts,” he said, before quickly backing out of the burrow.

“Hurry! Before they come after us!” Mabel said as they sped away.

Dipper gave a little laugh, “I wouldn’t worry about it, did you see their little legs? Suckers are tiny.”

“Hey Dipper,” Steven glimpsed behind at him, “Word of advice, don’t underestimate magical creatures. No matter how small. You think they’re harmless and next thing you know… you know what? I’m not gonna finish that sentence.”

Now was not the time to recount the times he’s had to deal with Aquamarine and Eyeball.

He felt eyes at the back of his head and looked back to see Dipper looking at him. Suddenly, they heard loud stomping in the distance and Steven slammed on the breaks. They all looked behind them to see a giant gnome made of smaller gnomes stomping down the road, coming right at them. They all stared at it in shock. It raised a fist in the air.

“Dipper, take the wheel!” Steven shouted before switching places with Dipper at the back of the cart.

“Drive!” He yelled as the fist started to smash down on them. Dipper stepped on the gas and they managed to avoid getting squished by a fist made of gnomes, which fell apart as it hit the ground. But it quickly reformed, the gnomes crawling back together before chasing after them.

“Head to the Shack!” Steven shouted. 

“Come back with our queen!” He heard the brown-haired gnome scream.

Steven grabbed the shovel, preparing himself to defend the twins. He had signed up for a relaxed summer in a small sleepy town, not magical gnomes. Although, this was better then gem stuff. He could deal with it. Besides, who would be there to protect the twins?

“It’s getting closer!” Mabel yelled.

The gnome monster raised its fist again, and instead of smashing it down, it threw a bunch of gnomes at them. Steven managed to bat some away with his shovel, but a few still landed on the cart. He saw Mabel punch a gnome out of the cart while dipper smashed another’s head into the steering wheel. 

The gnome groaned, “Schmebulock,” before Dipper threw it out of the cart. The gnome monster threw more gnomes, and one landed on Steven’s face, causing him to drop the shovel. He managed to rip that gnome off his face when the gnome monster threw another bombardment of gnomes. He looked back to see Mabel punching a gnome off Dipper’s face. 

‘Here goes nothing,’ 

With the twins distracted, he raised his shield, protecting the cart from the gnome attack. He told himself he wouldn’t use his powers, but because of their current situation, he was willing to make an exception. Problem was, with the giant shield raised, the cart was quickly bathed in pink light, as the sunlight shone through the shield. Steven quickly lowered it, hoping the twins didn’t notice.

“What was that?” He heard Mabel say.

‘Oh no.’

He looked back to see Mabel looking at her arms, not a him.

“Everything was pink for a moment!” She looked up at Steven, “What happened?” She asked.

Seven laughed nervously, “I don’t know, the light came from the gnome. I don’t know what it was.”

‘That as close.’

Steven looked back at the gnome monster to see it rip a tree from the ground and throw it over them. It landed on the path with a boom, almost blocking it completely. Dipper managed to avoid hitting the tree, but lost control of the cart in the process. They started to drift, and the cart tipped over right as they got to the Mystery Shack. Steven quickly stood up out of the cart, looking over to make sure the twins were okay. They looked pretty beat up and worse for wear, so Steven licked his palms and helped them up, hoping, once again, they wouldn’t noticed.

“Why are your hands wet?” Mabel groaned.

“My palms get sweaty when I’m nervous,” Steven said, maybe a little too quickly.

Before Mabel could say anything else, the gnome monster caught up, roaring at them

“Stay back!” Steven shouted, moving in front of the twins, with his arms out stretched.

“It’s the end of the line kids!” The lead gnome yelled, “Mabel, marry us before we do something crazy!”

“There’s gotta be a way out of this,” Dipper muttered.

“No one is marrying anyone! Now leave before something bad happens to you!” Steven felt his cheeks start to get warm, and he knew they had started to glow slightly. 

Mabel ducked under Steven’s arm, walking forwards, “I gotta do it.”

“What?!” Steven and Dipper said in unison.

Steven reached forward, trying to grab Mabel’s shoulder as Dipper ducked under Steven’s arm as well, running over to her.

“Mabel! Don’t do this! Are you crazy?”

She looked back at Dipper, “Trust me.”

“What?!” Dipper said.

Steven walked up to the two of them, just in time to hear Mabel whisper, “Dipper, just this once, TRUST me.”

Steven recognized the tone in her voice. It was a tone many people spoke in when they had a plan.

Dipper nodded and backed away. Steven joined him, watching the scene play out apprehensively. 

“Alright Jeff,” Mabel sighed, “I’ll marry you.”

“Hot dog!” the monster stomped its foot as Jeff said that.

As Jeff started to climb down the giant gnome monster, Steven bent down to whisper to Dipper, “Are you sure about this?”

“Yes I am, I trust Mabel,” Dipper whispered back.

Steven nodded and looked back up as Jeff placed the ring on Mabel’s finger.

“Bada-bing, bada-bam!” Jeff did a little dance, “Now let’s get you back into the forest, honey!”

“You may now kiss the bride.” Mabel said, looking at the ring.

“Well, uh, don’t mind if I do.” Jeff closed his eyes and puckered his lips, leaning forward.

Steven noticed Mabel was hiding something behind her back, and as Jeff got closer, she pulled it out a leaf blower.

She turned it on and started to suck Jeff into it.

“Wha- wai- wait a minute! What’s going on?” He yelled, trying to run away to no avail.

“That’s for lying to me!” Mabel said as he got pulled into the blower.

She turned up the power, sucking Jeff into the blower even more. “That’s for breaking my heart!”

“Ow! My face!” Jeff yelled.

“And this is for messing with my brother!” Mabel took aim at the monster while Dipper ran over to her. “You want to do the honors?” She asked.

Dipper placed his hands on the blower, “On three.”

“One, two, three!” They said in unison. 

They flipped the blower to blow, launching Jeff at the monster, causing it to explode, sending gnomes everywhere.

“I’ll get you back for this!” Jeff yelled as he sailed over the trees, landings ewhere in the forest.

Mabel used the blower to blow the rest of the gnomes away, causing them to scamper off into the woods. Steven stifled a laugh, it was quite an interesting sight. Maybe these kids can handle thing by themselves.

As they walked towards the gift shop of the Shack, Steven had to ask.

“Is this a regular for you guys?”

Mabel shook her head.

“Well,” Dipper scratched the back of his neck, “I’ve always felt like there was something off about this town, and this just proves it!” 

He started to reach into his vest to grab the book Steven saw earlier, but paused. He squinted at Steven before taking his hand out of his vest.

“Is there something wrong?” Steven asked.

Dipper shook his head and smiled, the concentrated look faded from his face.

“It’s fine.”

“Hey Dipper,” Mabel said, “I’m sorry for ignoring your advice. You really were just looking out for me.”

Steven took a step away, letting the twins have a sibling moment. He walked back into the shop, stopping to say hi to Mr. Pines before continuing to his room. He sat on his bed, letting himself fall backwards. The day had been an interesting, tiring day. He wanted a quiet summer, but also missed this. Adventure. If you could call it that. He was just glad that it wasn’t gem related. He pondered over wether he would be able to stand a summer of magical things. He sighed. Today was the first day he had felt an adrenaline rush without it ending in a panic attack. Was I because it wasn’t gem related? He had to admit, he had had fun the last 9 months on his road trip, but he had felt like he was missing something. Discovering new things was always fun, and now, he’s discovering magical things that aren’t gem related. The idea of it was truly mystical. He would give it another week. He didn’t want to make any rash decisions today. He was tired enough as it was. He stood up and started getting ready for bed. He heard a crash in the distance and Mabel shout “grappling hook!” He chortled, the twins were definitely interesting kids.

———

Mabel bounced on the bed, playing with her new grappling hook. That day had been a roller coaster of emotions, but overall, she had fun. As much fun as you can when being kidnapped and chased by gnomes. But still, she managed to kick butt along side her brother. She looked over to see him writing in the journal, presumably about the eventful day they had. But something bothered her. She knew she had a cut on her hand from when a gnome bit her, but now it was gone. She knew she had it when they were driving away, but not when she grabbed the leaf blower. It was like it was magically healed. She couldn’t understand it. Then there was that weird pink light from when they were being chased in the golf cart. She was pretty sure the gnomes didn’t do that. So then why did Steven lie about it? 

“Hey Dipper?”

“Yeah?” He didn’t look up the journal.

“Did you ever notice something… off about Steven?” She asked

Dipper thought about it for a moment, “Not really?”

“Hm.”

Was she just imagining things? Maybe it’s because they had such an interesting day. She yawned. She’ll think about it tomorrow, but now, it’s sleeping time.

“Hey Mabel, can you get the lights?” Dipper asked.

“Sure thing!” She aimed the grappling hook and fired, breaking the window in the process.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steven and the twins go on the hunt for a plaidypus

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter took so long. Ive been busy with work, but I hope you like it!

It was dark. So dark Steven couldn’t see his hands in front of his face. He was surrounded by an inky blackness that seemed to seep into his skin. He felt cold, but other than that, he could feel nothing else. He couldn’t even feel the ground beneath his feet. He heard his breath quicken and heard the loud thumping of his heart in his head. He felt a weight pulling him down, and he began to sink into what felt like mud. 

“No!” He yelled, but his voice sounded muffled.

Then there was laughter, and it seemed to fill the space around him. It was a cruel laugh, nasally and piercing. It struck Steven, filling him with dread. As his head started to sink into the mud, he prayed he would never hear that laugh again.

Steven woke with a start, his heart pounding. What was that? Most of his nightmares consisted of old memories that had been warped, but this was new. There was someone else in his dream. Another presence, another… entity. But, that was impossible. He was the only person he knew that could wander the mental realm. So how had something visited him? Is there someone else out there like him? No, there was nothing like him. 

He shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts. Whatever it was, he would have to think about it later. He promised the twins he would help them track down something called a “plaidypus.” Apparently, it was a plaid platypus, but Dipper seemed really interested in it. Whenever Steven asked where he got the information about it from, he got really quiet before answering with a simple, “oh, you know, the internet or whatever.” That answer seemed a little weird to Steven, but he didn’t think much of it. There were a lot of things on the internet. 

Steven stood up out of bed, and started getting ready. It was his day off, which he was happy for. Sometimes talking to people can get tiring. He joined the Pines family in the kitchen, where Stan was making pancakes. Mabel was bouncing in her seat as always, excited for their adventure today. She was chattering about how cute a plaidypus would be and how soft she’s expecting it to be. Dipper had a map of Gravity Falls laid out on the table, and was plotting out where they were going to go.

“I say we check out the pond first. Plaidypuses like water, so anywhere there is water we have to check,” Dipper marked several Xs on the map.

“Good morning everyone,” Steven yawned, still waking up.

“Good morning Steven!” Mabel all but yelled.

“Hey,” Dipper waved his hand half-heartedly at Steven, still focused on the map. He chewed the back of his pen before marking another X.

There was a click as Stan turned off the stovetop, “Alright! Stancakes are done!”

Steven sat down at the table as breakfast was served. Dipper quickly ate his Stancakes, while still looking at the map. He was so focused, he didn’t notice when some syrup dribbled onto his shirt. Mabel wolfed down the food, wanting to get started on their quest. Steven ate at an average pace. Eating too fast could be bad for you.

After breakfast, Steven helped Stan with the dishes while the twins anxiously waited for him to be done in the next room. Dipper was going over his materials again, making sure they had everything.

“Okay, we got grapes, to feed it when we find it, a flashlight, compass, the map, hammer, in case we run into any gnomes, water bottles, sunscreen… anything else we should bring?” Dipper tapped his chin, racking his brain for what other materials they would need.

“What about,” Mabel reached into her bag, “a camera! I want to get memories for my scrapbook!”

Dipper nodded, “That’s good, Mabel. Now, anything else?”

Mabel shrugged. She looked back at the kitchen to make sure Steven was still in there. She really needed to talk to Dipper about Steven. There was some weird stuff about him, but the weirdest was the softball sized gem that Mabel had seen on his stomach one day. He was reaching for something off a high shelf for a customer, and Mabel say the pink gem as his shirt lifted up a bit.

“Dipper, I need to talk to you about Steven,” she whispered.

Dipper sighed, “If this is about how you have a crush on him, I don’t want to hear it.”

He started digging through his backpack again, triple checking their materials.

“No, it’s not, Dipper. It’s-“

“Snacks!” Dipper exclaimed, cutting her off, “sorry Mabel, I’m going to get some sandwiches for us.”

Dipper briskly walked to the kitchen just as Steven came out of it.

“Hey Mabel, you ready for today’s big adventure?” Steven asked.

Mabel smiled quickly, trying to cover the urgency on her face from the moment prior, “Totally! I can’t wait to touch a plaidypus!”

Steven chuckled. Mabel reminded him of when he was a kid.

“Well, remember, if it doesn’t want to be touched, we won’t touch it, got it?” 

Mabel nodded, “Promise!”

They stood in the living room waiting for Dipper to gather snacks. A silence descended upon them; for Mabel, it felt awkward, for Steven, well, he didn’t even notice.

Mabel cleared her throat, breaking the silence.

“You said you are on a road trip, but where are you from?” She asked, hoping not to sound too suspicious.

Steven smiled at her, “I’m from Beach City, it’s a small town in Delmarva.”

Mabel nodded, “Mhm, the same Beach City as ‘Keep Beach City Weird?’”

Steven laughed nervously, he started to dislike Ronaldo’s blog after he made a post about his… incident, “Yeah, you know about that?”

“Well,” Mabel pointed at Dipper as he walked through the door, “He does.”

“I does what?” Dipper asks, putting an array of sandwiches and chips into his pack.

“You know that nerd blog you follow? About Beach City?” Mabel pointed at Steven, “He’s from Beach City.”

Dipper's eyes lit up and it took all of Steven’s self control to not roll his eyes. He’s met a few of Ronaldo’s fans, and they haven’t been the best people. Although, Dipper seemed different.

“Do you know Ronaldo?” Dipper asked, a sense of excitement rising in him.

Steven suppressed a sigh, “Yeah, he kidnapped me once and accused me of being a lizard person. Although, I was wearing a lizard costume. The Ge- I mean, my friends had to rescue me,”

“Woah! That’s so cool!” Dipper’s eyes shone with excitement.

Steven scratched his neck and laughed nervously, “Not really, I was around 13-14, so it was kinda scary.”

Mabel noticed Steven starting to look uncomfortable, and she got the idea that he didn’t really like the blog that much. She regretted bringing it up. Before Dipper Gets the chance to ask another question, Mabel butt in.

“Shouldn’t we get going?”

——- 

Their first stop was the pond and waterfall that was only a short walk away from the Shack. They scoured the edges of the whole pond, and even looked behind the falls, but found nothing. A small stream led away from the pond, so the group started to follow that, walking the trail adjacent to the stream. 

Steven was glad he went with the twins. He hadn’t had much time to explore Gravity Falls, and it felt nice to stretch his legs. He noticed Dipper pull an old looking journal out of his vest and turned to a page with an illustration of a plaidypus. He muttered to himself before putting it back into his vest.

“I keep seeing you pull a book out of your vest, like back with the gnomes. What is it? Steven asked, his curiosity getting the best of him.

“What book, I don’t know what you’re talking about, haha, book.” Dipper said, a little too quickly. He was not the best liar.

Mabel rolled her eyes, “Dipper, we fought gnomes side by side with him,”

Dipper sighed. Mabel was right, Steven had already faced the mystical with them and seen the book. He deserves to know.

Dipper pulled the book out of his vest. It was an old looking journal with a gold handprint on the cover with the number 3. But what was odd was the handprint had six fingers. Dipper passed it to Steven as he started to explain.

“I found it in the words about two weeks ago, and it confirms my suspicion of all the weird things that happen in this town! Towards the end the writer appears to go mad, and then just stops writing as if he mysteriously disappeared.” Dipper waved his hands in the air for dramatic effect.

Steven flipped through the journal. There were a ton of supernatural and mystical things in here… that weren’t gem related! He was amazed at how many mythical things could exist that had nothing to do with gemkind. It gave him a sense of ease. That is until he flipped to the page that was about…

“Geodites! Next time we go out, we have to find those, they look really cool.” Dipper looked at the page Steven was looking at. Dipper pointed at the page and started to explain things, but Steven couldn’t hear. He felt himself start to get panicked, and his cheeks get warm and he knew they had a faint glow. He took a deep breath, he can’t break down in front of the twins. Besides, they could not be gem related, like with everything else in the book. Steven examined the page more, and unless they were corrupted gems, they didn’t sound, or look, like they had anything that had to do with gemkind. He breathed a sigh of relief. Then he noticed Mabel staring at him. He handed the book back to Dipper

“Is everything okay?” Steven asked.

‘Did she see me glow?’ He thought.

Mabel pointed at him, “I was going to ask you the same question. You looked really scared for a moment.”

Steven gave a little laugh, trying to lighten the mood, “Nah, I just was trying to remember if I left the light on in my room, and panicked because I thought I didn’t, but then remembered I did.”

“Hm, okay,” Mabel humed.

She looked forward, breaking eye contact with Steven. What was that? She could’ve sworn that Steven’s cheeks had started to glow a faint pink. Was she imagining it? No, she was certain she hadn’t imagined it. She peeked back at Steven, seeing him give back the journal to Dipper with a smile on his face. Mabel frowned, now she felt like Dipper. Everything is a conspiracy with him, and now that there was something undocumented in front of him, and he’s not even noticing. And he isn’t listening to her. She needs more proof.

Dippered sighed, pulling Mabel from her thoughts. 

“We aren’t gonna find this thing, are we?”

Steven patted his back, “We will. Sometimes, these things take time.” 

He smiled down at Dipper, who seemed to cheer up a tiny bit.

“How about we check out Gravity Falls lake? By Trembley Falls?” Steven suggested.

Dipper thought for a moment before responding, “Yeah, seems a spot as good as any.”

The three of them walked back to the Shack and all got into Steven’s Dondai. The drive was a short one and they soon were parked at the docks. They got out of the car and continued their search. They followed a hiking path that ran alongside the lake, making sure to stay as observant as possible. Steven and Mabel started to sing songs to pass the time while Dipper stayed at the front of the group, eyes peeled. They had been walking for about an hour when they had reached Trembley Falls. 

“Well, we better head back so we can check the other side of the lake,” Mabel shrugged.

Dipper pulled the journal from his vest, “Wait, the journal says something about a cave behind the falls. We can crossover there.”

He slipped the book back into his vest and Mabel and Steven followed him to the edge of the waterfall. Steven noticed a gap between the water and the stone behind it. They all carefully walked through it, making sure not to slip on the wet rock. They stared in awe at the cave behind the waterfall. It was very open, and looked like a secret hideaway. There was a pool of water that the waterfall fed into, that looked like it was connected to the lake outside. Dipper flipped open the journal again.

“Actually, it says the geodites are down that tunnel over there,” he pointed to an entrance at the far end of the room.

Steven felt anxious about encountering one of these creatures. Were they gem related, or was it just a coincidence that they were made of crystals? Then he had an idea. He’d send one back to the temple, and have them try to heal it. If it was really a gem, he could come back and help the rest of them. If not, they could just send it back, and he would return it back to the cave. As much as he wanted to avoid gem stuff, he couldn’t in good conscience just leave a bunch of corrupted gems in the dark. He still wanted to help them.

Dipper pulled three flashlights out of his backpack, handing one to Mabel and Steven each. 

“You guys ready,” he asked.

Steven took a deep breath, “Yes, let’s do this.”

The party of three headed into the tunnel. 

It was dark, so dark Steven couldn’t even see his hands in front of his face had it not been for the flashlights. They were surrounded by an inky blackness that was only broken by the light. Steven hadn’t ever really been in a proper cave, and this new experience seemed to calm his nerves. The caved looked man made, dug out by some unknown people hundreds of years ago, but water had seeped in, forming stalactites and stalagmites. It was cold, and Steven noticed Dipper was shivering. Mabel was wearing one of her classic sweaters, so she was fine. But Dipper was just in a vest and t-shirt. Steven took off his pink varsity jacket and handed it to Dipper. Dipper looked up at him.

“Won’t you be cold?” He asked.

Steven shook his head, smiling at him, “I don’t get cold very easily.”

Dipper nodded and put the jacket on. They had been walking for about 20 minutes when they came to a ladder. It looked old, but sturdy. Dipper took a step towards it, but Steven stopped him.

“I’ll test it.”

Steven walked forward and took a tentative step on the first rung, testing its strength. When it held up, he put his full weight on it. He slowly lifted his other foot off of the ground and began to climb, going slow. When he reached the top, he called down to the twins.

“It seems fine! Come on up!”

They began to slowly climb the ladder when a rung broke under Dipper’s foot, causing the ladder to break and the twins to fall. Steven was only able to grab Mabel, as she was the one who started climbing it first. Luckily, Dipper wasn’t all that far off the group when it broke.

“Are you okay?” Steven yelled down at Dipper.

Dipper groaned, but gave Steven a thumbs up. 

“What are we gonna do?” Mabel asked. 

Steven frowned, not sure, he could easily carry Mabel and float down, but he didn’t want to use his powers. And especially didn’t want Mabel to find out. 

“I’m goin to go back to the lake to get enough signal to call Stan!” Dipper said, quickly turning around and hurrying out of the tunnel. Steven tried to protest, but Dipper was already gone.

“Well, poop,” Mabel said.

Mabel pointed her flashlight down the continuation of the tunnel.

“We could keep going and see if there is a way out that way?” She suggested.

“No, we should stay put,” Steven said.

But it was too late, Mabel had already continued down the tunnel. Steven sighed and followed. He doesn‘t want her to get hurt. 

The tunnel seemed to shrink, the ceiling lowered and the walls got closer. Steven had to duck his head at some points. They had been walking for about an hour, and Steven was ready to insist to Mabel that they turn back. Dipper should’ve gotten back to the a place will cell service by then, and Steven wanted to be back where the broken ladder was before he managed to get Stan there. The tunnel suddenly widened into a grand cavern that seemed to emit a strong glow. They heard faint high-pitched chirping and humming sounds, and Steven noticed the glow was coming from baseball sized geodes that seemed to scurry away from them. 

“Awww they’re so cute!” Mabel said, turning off her flashlight. They seemed to dislike the light from their flashlights, so Steven turned his off as well. The geodites moves closer to them, curious. They didn’t seem hostile at all. And Mabel was right, they were awfully cute. The chirping got louder as the geodites got closer, inspecting what these two new creatures were.

“The dont looks scared of us, I have a feeling that these things haven’t seen a human in a long time,” Steven bent down and one crawled into his hand. It seemed to be walking around on crystal legs, and it’s mouth opened like Pac-man, to reveal purple glowing crystals inside. Definitely not gem related. But, he did want to make sure. 

Mabel picked one up and let it run over her hands, chirping happily. The one in Steven’s hand laid down and started humming. Steven turned his back to Mabel as she played with the geodite. He pulled a pen and sticky note pad from and quickly scribbled ‘Not sure if this is a corrupted gem. Try to heal it, and if not, send it back to me ASAP. -Steven.’ He attached the note to the back of the geodite and quickly bubbled it, sending it back to the temple. Now he just had to make sure they didn’t leave the room for at least a good ten minutes. Just to be safe.

He turned back around to see a geodite sitting atop Mabel’s shoulders, and another on her head. She giggled as the one on her shoulder ran under her hair to her other shoulder. Steven cleared his throat, getting her attention.

“We should probably sit down and rest for a bit, then head back. We don’t want Dipper to show up with help and we NOT be there.”

Mabel nodded and carefully sat down, making sure the geodite on her head didn’t fall. Steven sat next to her and waited. He needed to make sure she didn’t see the bubble when it returned. He had to be ready. 

A few minutes had passed and Mabel was throwing geodites in the air and catching them. They seemed to giggle, chirping with joy. They were so cute her heart felt like it was going to melt. She put the one she just caught down and went to pick up another one when she noticed Steven was staring straight ahead. He seemed tense, as if he was waiting for something to happen.

“Steven,” Mabel asked, “Are you okay?”

Steven blinked, pulled from his trance. He looked down at Mabel and smiled, “I’m fine, just thinking about home.”

It wasn’t a full lie, just a half-truth. He WAS thinking about home, but thinking about the gems and the geodite. He missed the gems. And Connie. He really missed Connie. Hopefully she would be able to come visit him soon. He would absolutely take her here. This was beautiful. 

“Oh,” Mabel said. She didn’t really know what she was expecting him to say. But she did have a burning question on her mind. She’d been thinking about it since the gnomes.

“Hey Steven?”

“Yeah?”

“Back when we were running from the gnomes, you mentioned how we shouldn’t underestimate them because they were small. But sounded like you spoke from experience. Are their magical things in Beach City?” She asked.

Steven sighed. He knew this was gonna be unavoidable. Sooner or later, someone was going to put pieces together. But he mainly expected it from Dipper, so Mabel asking did come at him as a surprise. The best he can do is answer her question with as little information as possible.

“Kinda,” He wouldn’t call them ‘magical,’ just, ‘technologically advanced,’ “The small creature I was referring to when I said that, was a gem called Aquamarine. Gems are like people, but their body is made of light projected from a gemstone. Well this gem looked harmless enough, but managed to kidnap a bunch of my friends, and even tried to kill my dad. It’s not something I like to talk about.”

Mabel stayed quiet, processing what she heard. She thought of her next question carefully, trying her best not to ask anything too invasive. She decided not to ask about Steven’s experience with gems, but did want to know…

“Are there more gems in Beach City?” She asked.

Steven smiled at her. She was just a curious kid, he couldn’t blame her for asking.

“Yep, they even have their own little town. There they learn how to do a bunch of human things! Like gardening, art, blacksmithing, and more!”

Mabel’s eyes widened and she almost dropped the geodite she was holding, “That’s so cool!”

She thought back to her seeing the gem on Steven’s body. But Steven wasn’t made of light, was he? 

“Are you a gem?”

Steven felt like he had been hit by a bus. His mind raced at how he was going to respond. This is what he had been trying to avoid. He wanted to be just human, but hadn't he spent almost a full year being that? He was still half gem, a side of him he started to not know how to feel about. But, it had helped him back with the gnomes, and helped protect the twins. The fact he was half gem was going to get out, he knew that. But maybe he can control who it gets out to. He took a deep breath.

“Kinda, you see-“

He was cut off by the pop of a pink bubble that formed in the middle of the room. Inside, the geodite was running around in circles before plopping down on the bubble. On its back was a note. Steven jumped and popped it, catching the geodite and the note before they hit the ground. It was still a little wet, and it shook itself before running off after Steven put it on the ground. 

“What’s that?” Mabel asked, gently putting the geodite she was holding down before getting up.

“I sent one on the geodites to my friend’s back in Beach City to see if it’s gem related and…” he read the note the Gems sent back. Looked like Pearl’s hand writing, “It’s not! That’s neat.”

Mabel looked up at him, “But how did you send it?”

“So I am a gem, well, half gem. My mom was a gem, and I have some of her powers. One of them is bubbling things and sending them to different places,” Steven shoved the note into his pocket.

“Woah!” Mabel said, slack jawed, “What else can you do?!”

Steven laughed nervously, “I’ll tell you, but you can’t tell anyone. Promise?”

“Can I tell Dipper?” She asked.

Steven thought about it for a moment, “Only if he asks. I don’t really want people to know, I just want to be human this summer.”

Mabel nodded, and drew her finger across her lips, as if zipping them shut and locking them before flicking away the key.

“Okay, so I can heal people, with me saliva,” Steven said.

“You have healing kisses!” Mabel exclaimed, amazed.

“Yes, but there’s more,” Steven smiled, her excitement was contagious, “I can float, run really fast, and summon a shield. Also, I’m super strong. That’s basically it.”

He wasn’t about to tell her about bringing people back from the dead. She’s just a kid after all.

She was quiet for a moment, “Can I see?” She asked.

“See what?”

“The shield!” She was bouncing on her feet, full of energy and excitement.

Steven chuckled, “Sure,” 

His gem started to glow and then there was the shield on his arm, glowing a subtle pink. It felt nice not having to hide, like a breath he had been holding for too long had been released. Mabel gawked at its glow as Steven held it towards her.

“You can hold it if you’d like,”

She gently picked it up from where it was suspended on Steven’s arm. It felt glassy and smooth, and had a nice weight to it. It was transparent, and made everything look pink when she looked through it.

“This looks so cool!” 

Steven smiled as Mabel marveled over the shield. Maybe people knowing wouldn’t be so bad. 

“Well, we should probably get going,” Steven made his shield disappear, “We have a long walk back.”

“Didn’t you say you had super speed, though?” Mabel asked.

“Yeah I do,” Steven turned around knelt on the ground, “Get on.”

Mabel squealed with glee as she got onto Steven’s back and turned on her flashlight. 

“Hold on tight,” and with that, Steven glowed pink and the world seemed to move in slow motion. The geodites that had been running around all slowed and some were suspended in mid jump. 

Running felt amazing. The rush of the air and the stretch of his legs felt relieving, like taking a walk after being cramped on a long car ride. They made it back to the broken ladder within a few minutes. Steven stopped running and looked up back at Mabel. She had the widest grin and her hair was blown out of her face.

“That was awesome!” 

She looked over the edge at the broken ladder, then looked at Steven, “Didn’t you say something about floating?”

Steven grinned and took a step over the edge. Mabel shut her eyes tight, expecting a rough landing, but when there wasn’t immediate thud, she peeked one eye open. Steve was standing in mid air, and just slowly floating downwards. 

“Wow!” She had the widest grin on her face. This was so cool!

Soon they had touched down, and Mabel climbed off of his back.

“That was epic! How long have you been able to do that?” She asked.

“Well,” Steven laughed to himself, remembering his first time floating. It seemed scary at the time, but looking back now all he could do was laugh, “I was so excited about being home from a mission, and excited about eating the first handmade donut that my local donut shop was going to start selling, I jumped super high! Not on purpose, but I just did! It was so cool so I started jumping and floating around. But then I jumped a little TOO high and got stuck there all night.”

Mabel bounced on her heels, “Did you at least get the donut?”

Steven smiled, “Yep! I figured out how to get down and got to the shop right when it opened!”

“Yay! Happy ending!” Mabel threw her hands up in celebration.

Just then they heard voices down the tunnel and Dipper came into view, followed by Soos with a ladder.

“Guys we’re back-,” Dipper called up to them before realizing they weren’t at the top of the ledge anymore, “Wait how did you guys get down?”

Mabel was about to answer when she saw Soos and remembered what she promised Steven.

“Turns out, Steven’s really good at climbing! But before that let me tell you about the geodites we saw!” Mabel quickly started to talk about the cavern they found as Steven let out a little sigh of relief.

“So, I’m guessing you dudes don’t need this?” Soos held up the ladder he was holding.

Steven shook his head, “I think we’re good.”

——

After about twenty minutes, the four of them emerged from behind the waterfall.

“Do you want me to carry that?” Steven asked Soos. It looked kinda heavy.

“Nah dude, I got it,” Soos responded, but it didn’t seem like he had it.

“It’s no problem, you’ve been carrying it for a while now, and I’m pretty strong.”

Soos placed the ladder on the ground and stretched, his back was killing him.

“Actually, sure dude, that would be a big help.”

Steven effortlessly picked up the ladder and placed it on his shoulder.

Dipper sighed, “We still haven’t found the plaidypus.”

Soos gave him a pat on the back, “There’s always next time, dude.”

“I guess so,” Dipper said, looking at the ground dejectedly. 

Just then, there was a rustling in the bushes and everyone froze. Seconds felt like ages while they all waited with baited breath for whatever was gonna step out of those bushes. What were the odd it was going to be a plaidypus? What amazing stroke of luck would that be? Suddenly, out of the bushes jumped a… bunny. Just a grey forest rabbit. They all released a disappointed sigh. Oh well.

Dipper took a step forward and immediately tripped, falling over. When he looked down he saw… a plaidypus! It must’ve crawled in front of them while they waited anxiously for what was rustling in the bushes a few yards ahead. 

“Yes!” Dipper said. 

It walked over and laid down on Dipper’s back.

“This is the greatest moment of my life,” he whispered, trying not to spook it

Mabel knelt down and started to pet it.

“It’s so soft!” She squealed. 

They all took turns petting the strange animal, and it was indeed the soft thing they had ever felt.

Dipper handed Steven a camera.

“Get a picture.”

Steven got plenty of pictures.


	5. The Legend of the Gobblewonker

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The crew try to capture the elusive Gobblewonker on camera

Steven woke up fairly late. The previous week had been pretty exhausting, just nonstop work. Who knew stocking shelves and talking to people took so much out of you? He went to bed immediately the night before and fell into a deep, dreamless sleep. By the time he woke up the next day the twins and Stan had already left for whatever they had planned that day. He walked into the kitchen and was fixing himself a bowl of cereal when Soos walked in.

“Hey dude, I was headed to the lake to go boating. I just had to stop by and pick up my tool kit I accidentally left here. Wanna come? I think the twins and Stan went to the lake to go fishing as well,” he offered. 

Steven smiled at him. He hadn’t gone boating in a long time, so it sounded fun. Just relaxing in a boat and driving it around may seem boring, but it’s actually quite fun.

“You know what, Soos? I think I’m gonna take you up on that offer, let me just eat breakfast and I’ll meet you outside.”

Steven quickly finished his cereal and headed outside. He offered to drive them to the lake, and soon enough they were on their way.

When they got there, Steven noticed a commotion at the docks.

“Hey Soos, I’ll meet you at the docks,” Steven said, already starting to walk over.

“No problem dude.”

As Steven got closer, he saw a short, long bearded man frantically trying to get people’s attention.

“I seen it! I seen it again!” The man smacked a sandwich out of someone’s hands, “The Gravity Falls gobblewonker! Come quick, before it scramdoodles away!” 

Steven spots the twins as the man started to do a jig.

“Aw. He’s doing a happy jig,” he hears Mabel say. 

The man stops, “No! It’s a jig of grave danger!”

Just then, a man came out of the fishing shop.

“Hey, Hey!” He grabs a spray bottle and starts spraying the old man with water, “Now, what did I tell you about scaring my customers? This is your last warning, Dad.”

‘Dad?’ Steven thought. The whole situation just got a lot sadder. 

“But I got proof this time, by gummity!” The old man scampered over to the end of the dock.

“Behold!” The old man pointed at a small, broken fishing boat, “It’s the gobbledywonker what done did it! It had a long neck like a gee-raffe, and wrinkly skin like..” he pointed at Stan, who Steven just noticed was also there, “like this gentleman right here!”

“Huh?” Stan said.

The man continues, “It chopped my boat up to smitheroons! It shim-shammed over to Scuttlebutt Island! You gotta believe me!”

He grabbed at his son’s arm, hoping he would listen to him.

“Attention, all units,” Sheriff Blubs said, “we got ourselves a crazy old man.”

Everyone pointed at the old man and started laughing. Steven frowned, this man obviously had seen something, and everyone was laughing in his face! How rude. Although, he was glad to see Stan and the twins not laughing.

“Aw, donkey spittle! Banjo polish…” the old man said as he walked off the dock in defeat. 

Steven walked over to the man who sat sadly on a log away from the docks. He sat down next to him and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.

“That wasn’t very nice of them to laugh. I believe you.”

The man’s face lit up, happy to see at least one person not think he was crazy. Steven, in fact, really did believe him. After what had already happened this summer, it wasn’t impossible that there really was some Loch Ness type monster living in the lake.

“Thank you, that’s very kind of you to say,” The old man said, patting Steven’s hand on his shoulder, “Name’s Fiddleford McGucket, But most just call me Old Man McGucket.”

Steven smiled at him, “Nice to meet you, Fiddleford. I’m Steven Universe.”

“Oh! The Pink Diamond feller!” Fiddleford said.

Steven stood up quickly, “How do you know about that?!”

“Well, ya’ see,” he reached into his pocket and pulled out a gem communicator, “I found this a couple-a years back, and one day, I was just playin’ banjo in my tent when it turned on! And I saw yer’ face! And you said somefinn’ about you not being the new Pink Diamond,’ whatever that means.”

“Okay, cool. Coolcoolcoolcool. Okay, Fiddleford?”

“Yeah?”

“I need you not to tell anyone, got it?”

“Darn tootin’ good buddy!” Fiddleford stood up and did a little jig before runn

Steven saw Soos pull up to the docks and start talking to the twins about something.

“I have to go,” Steven looked back at Fiddleford, “Remember, don’t tell anyone.”

Steven ran over to Soos and the twins.

“What’s up guys?” He asked.

“Oh, dude, me and the twins are gonna go on an epic monster hunt. Wanna come?” Soos said.

Steven thought about it for a moment. Another adventure couldn’t hurt, right? Besides, if things get hairy, it would be better if Steven was there to help them.

“Okay! I’m ready,” Steven said, climbing aboard Soos’s boat, which was called the S. S. Cool Dude.

As they got closer to the island, Dipper gathered everyone on the deck.

“Alright, If you want to win this contest, we got to do it right. Think, what’s the number one problem with most monster hunts?” Dipper asked.

“You’re a side character and you die in the first five minutes of the movie. Dude, am I a side character? Do you ever think about stuff like that?” Soos said, looking a little freaked out.

Steven gave him a comforting pat on the back, “I don’t think you’re a side character.”

“No, no, no. Camera trouble. Say Bigfoot shows up. Soos, be Bigfoot.” Dipper pointed at Soos, who immediately struck the classic Bigfoot pose, “There he is! Bigfoot!” Dipper patted his life vest, “Uh-oh! No camera!” He pulled a camera out of his vest, “Oh, wait! Here’s one! Ah, no film! You see, you see what I’m doing here?”

Steven nodded while the others murmured in understanding.

Dipper pulled out a bag, “That’s why I bought twenty-one disposable cameras. Two on my ankle, three in my jacket, four for each of you,” Dipper passed out three bags to Mabel, Steven, and Soos, “three extras in this bag, and one,” he lifts up his hat, “under my hat. There’s no way we’re gonna miss this. Okay, everybody, let’s test our cameras.”

Steven took a few pictures on a seagull that stood perched on the bow on the ship. It looked at him lazily, barely acknowledging him. From behind him, he heard a yell and saw Soos throwing a camera over his head.

“You see? This is exactly why you need back up cameras. We still have twenty.” Dipper said.

The seagull that stood on the bow of the ship suddenly took flight and swooped down at Mabel.

“Ah! Bird!” She shouted before throwing a camera at it.

Dipper looked at Mabel, “Nineteen. Okay, guys, I repeat, don’t lose your cameras.”

“Wait, lose the cameras?” Soos asked

“Don’t!” Dipper yelled

“Dude, I just threw two away,” Soos pointed over his shoulder at two cameras floating in the lake.

“Hey,” Steven said, “That’s littering.”

“Seventeen! Alright we still have seventeen camera-“ dipper slammed his fist on a cooler and smashed the camera Steven had taken pictures of the seagull with, “Sixteen. We have sixteen cameras.”

Mabel held a camera over the side of the boat, “So what’s the plan? Throw more cameras overboard, or what?”

“No!” Dipper shouted, trying to grab the cameras from Mabel. 

She put the camera she was about to throw overboard back into her bag, “Don’t worry, I was just messing with you bro.”

Dipper sighed, “Okay then. Mabel, you’ll be look out on the bow of the boat, and Steven will be look out on the back of the boat. You guys won’t miss anything that way. Soos can work the steering wheel, and I’ll be captain.” Dipper pointed at himself.

“What?!” Mabel dropped her cameras, “Why do you get to be captain? Can’t I be co-captain?” She asked.

“There’s no such thing and co-captain,” Dipper said.

“Actually-“ Steven started, but stopped as Mabel threw another camera overboard.

“Uh, whoops.”

“Okay fine! You can be co-captain!” Dipper said.

“Can I be associate co-captain?” Soos asked.

Mabel smiled, “As co-captain, I authorize your request.”

“Hey, let me get in on this action,” Steven said, walking over to the group, “Is there room for another associate co-captain?”

Mabel nodded, “I also authorize your request.”

Dipper butted back into the conversation, getting them back on track, “Well as first, co-captain, out #1 order of business is to lure the monster out with this,” He gestured towards a barrel labeled ‘fish food.’

“Permission to taste some?” Soos asked.

“Granted.”

“Permission co-granted.”

“Permission associate co-granted.”

“Permission also associate co-granted,” Soos said before shoving his hand into the barrel and grabbing a piece of fish food. He licked the piece in his hand before coughing and rubbing at his tongue. The twins and Steven laughed.

“Dude, I don’t know what I expected that to taste like,” Soos said.

“Okay, let’s get back on track,” Dipper said, wiping the tears of his eyes.

“Off to Scuttlebutt island!” Mabel yelled.

Soos stepped into the wheelhouse and steered the boat towards the island.

“Human sized hamster ball, here I come,” Steven heard Mabel whisper.

“What?”

“Oh!” Dipper pulled out a magazine and showed Steven one of the pages, “If we submit a photo of a real monster, we can win $1000 dollars!”

“And I’m gonna buy a human-sized hamster ball!” Mabel yelled, jumping up and down.

“I’m not sure what I’m gonna do with my cut of the money, but it’s gonna be epic,” Soos said from the wheelhouse.

“What about you, Steven?” Mabel asked.

“Well…” What could Steven get? There wasn’t much he could say he wanted. His dad was practically a millionaire, so he never had to worry about money nowadays. Maybe he could use it to go out and do something? Maybe take Connie out on a lavish date? That’s something boyfriends do, right? But he knew that it didn’t matter what he did for the date, Connie would always just enjoy being with him.

“It's fine, I don’t need a share. My dad’s kinda a millionaire,” Steven said a little sheepishly. He felt like he was bragging, but he genuinely didn’t really need the money.

“Are you sure?” Dipper asked.

Steven nodded.

They felt the boat shudder as it met the shore of the island.

“We’re here!” Soos shouted.

They all disembarked the S.S.Cool Dude. Dipper grabbed a lamp and they all started follow the main road on the island, walking into the mist that seem to surround them

They passed a sign that said ‘beware,’ and another that said ‘Scuttlebutt Island.’

“Dude check it out,” Soos covered the part of the second sign that said ‘Scuttle,’ “Butt Island.”

Steven gave a small laugh.

“Soos you rapscallion,” Mabel said.

She looked over at Dipper, who was just looking around them on high alert.

“Hey, why aren’t you laughing?” She asked, “Are you scared?”

“Yeah, right, I’m not-“ Dipper was cut off by Mabel poking his nose and blowing a raspberry.

“Yeah, you are!”

“Hey quit it-“ Dipper was cut off again as Mabel poked him again and again while blowing raspberries. 

“Stop, Mabel!”

They were interrupted by a loud growl.

Steven felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up. He moved protectively towards the twins, looking all around for the source of the noise.

“Dude, did you guys hear that?” Soos asked.

“What was that? Was it your stomach?” Mabel asked.

“Nah, my stomach normally sounds like whale noises,” Soos said, patting his belly

Mabel put her head against it, listening, before saying, “Wow, so majestic.”

Suddenly an opossum came out of nowhere and stole Dipper’s lantern, which had fallen onto the ground.

“Hey!” Dipper yelled, but it was too late. The little creature scrambled off into the underbrush and disappeared with their only light source.

“This is no good, I can't see anything,” Steven said.

“Dude, I don’t know man,” Soos glanced around them anxiously, “maybe this, uh, maybe this isn’t worth it.”

Dipper looked at Soos in disbelief, “Not worth it? Guys imagine what would happen if we got that picture!”

Steven stepped forward, “I’m with Soos on this. I don’t know how I would explain to your Grunkle if you two got hurt.”

Dipper shook his head, “I’m not leaving this island until I have a picture of that gobblewonker,” he looked towards Mabel, “Are you in?”

“I’m in!” She yelled.

The two of them rain further down the road, leaving Steven alone with Soos.

“We should follow them,” Steven said.

Soos nodded, still glancing around anxiously.

They managed to catch up to the twins, who had slowed down to a walking pace.

They had been walking around for about five minutes when Soos started randomly beat-boxing, presumably to calm his nerves. Mabel joined in, raping rhymes to the beat. She made several rhymes with her name before Dipper interrupted.

“Guys, do you hear something?” 

They heard the loud growl again, except this time, it sounded closer.

“This is it!” Dipper whispered.

Mabel giggled before continuing walking with Dipper. Soos grabbed a sharp stick off the ground and Steven bubbled his hand, making sure to keep it behind his back. If something happened, it was up to him to save the twins. They walked into a thicker patch of mist, emerging to see the other side of the lake, and seeing a Loch Ness monster shape in the water. The four of them dove behind a log and peaked over it at the shape.

Dipper pulled out his camera, “Everyone… Get your cameras ready.”

They all pulled out their cameras and turned them on.

“Ready? Go!” Dipper shouted. 

The four of them ran forward, with Soos in the lead. As they got closer, the shape of the creature became more defined until they could see it clearly.

The four of them stopped. 

“It’s a boat…” Steven said.

The shape they had seen was a shipwreck of an upside down boat, with some wood pointed up to look like a head. As they stared, beavers started to emerge and scamper around the ship.

“But… but what was that noise, then?” Dipper asked, “I heard a monster noise.”

They heard the growl again, and they looked to the left to see a beaver playing with a rusty chainsaw, which would randomly turn on.

“Sweet! Beaver with a chainsaw,” Soos lifted his camera and started taking pictures of the beavers.

Dipper sighed, “Maybe that old guy was crazy after all.”

“He did use the word scrapdoodle,” Mabel said, also starring at the beaver in defeat.

Dipper sat on a rock on the edge of the lake, “ what are we going to tell Grunkle Stan? We ditched him over nothing.” 

He sighed, skipping a rock across the edge of the lake.

“Sometime, you just have own on up to your mistakes, and apologize. Sometimes that’s all you need to do, to apologize,” Steven said, patting Dipper on the back.

He sighed, “That’s probably best. We should head back.”

As Dipper stood up, they all heard a loud booming sound.

“Did you guys feel that?” Dipper asked

They heard the boom again, and Dipper fell into the water. Steven reached out to help pull him out of the lake. Just as he got him out of the water, a shape seemed to swim close to where he just was. They saw a tail flip out of the water as the thing swam a distance away before coming back towards them.

“This is it!” Dipper held up his camera and took a picture of the shape in the water.

He looked back at the group, “Come on, this is our chance!”

The thing got closer and closer to the shore, and Mabel and Soos started to step backwards.

“Dipper-“ Steven started, but got cut off by Dipper.

“What’s wrong with you guys?”

The monster rose up out of the water behind Dipper’s back. 

“It’s not that hard, alright? All you gotta do is point and shoot. Like this,” Dipper turned around to see the Gobblewonker towering over him. It roared at him as Soos and Mabel ran away. Steven grabbed Dipper by the back collar of his life vest and pulled him out of the way as the monster climbed onto the island. Dipper dropped his camera in the process. Steven threw him forward, so he was running with Mabel and Soos.

“Get back to the boat!” Steven yelled.

He stayed in the back, and dodged a tree the Gobblewonker knocked over. It felled another tree, and Steven saw it was going to land on the twins. He jumped and kicked it out of the way. The tree went flying to the left of the group. Another tree came flying at them, but Soos and the twins managed to dodge it. The Gobblewonker leaned down and tried to snap at the group, but Steven punched it in the jaw, his bubbled fist connecting with a loud ‘clang.’

‘Clang?’ He thought. But he didn’t have much more time to think about it. He looked forward and saw Dipper with a camera out. Had he seen his bubbled hand? Dipper took a photo before tripping over a branch, the camera flying from his hand. 

“The picture!” He yelled, watching the camera get crushed by the monster’s huge body.

Steven grabbed Dipper, and carried him under his arm.

“Dude, if it makes you feel any better, I got tons of pictures of those beavers, dude!” Soos yelled back at them.

“Why would they make me feel better?!” Steven yelled back.

They all arrived at the boat and Steven threw Dipper in before picking up Soos and Mabel and throwing them in as well. Steven pushed the boat off of the shore before jumping in himself.

“You weren’t kidding about that super strength,” Mabel said, standing up as Soos ran into the wheelhouse.

“What?” Dipper asked.

“What?” Mabel responded.

They drove away from the island with the Gobblewonker in hot pursuit.

“Okay, this is it,” Dipper pulled a camera from his life vest, “What?! Cracked lens?! Soos! Get a photo!”

Soos picked up Steven’s bag of cameras, which had fallen, and started to throw them off the back of the boat.

“What are you doing!” Dipper yelled. 

Steven picked a camera up that had fallen on the ground, “Don’t worry! There’s still one left!” He tossed it over to Dipper, but threw it too hard, smashing it against the wheelhouse. 

“Sorry.”

The Gobblewonker swam after them, rising out of the water next to their boat. 

“Hold on!” Soos yelled, as he got back into the wheelhouse and started to maneuver away from it.

The Gobblewonker wonder chased them around the lake, until they were nearing Trembley Falls.

“There!” Dipper yelled, “There’s a cave behind the falls!”

They all yelled as they passed through the falls, and were thrown from their boat as it hit the shore of the cove.

Steven groaned as he got up and saw Soos had a cut on his forehead. He quickly licked his hand and helped him up, hoping no one saw the cut sparkle then disappear.

“Did we lose it?” Dipper asked.

Just then, it burst through the falls. Soos and the twins huddled while yelling, but Steven glowed pink as he stood his ground. This thing would have to go through him before he’d let it hurt the others. He saw the gobblewonker struggle to get into the cave, and he realized that it was stuck. His pink glow quickly faded and he realized they were safe...ish. 

“Guys, look,” he said, looking back. But Dipper already had his eyes open. Had he seen him glow? It didn’t matter if he did, Mabel would tell him eventually. But he kinda hoped to keep it a little more secret from Dipper. He has seen how obsessive he can get over mystical things. He didn’t want to be put under a microscope. 

“It’s stuck!” Dipper said.

He laughed as he ran around the side of the cave, to a small ledge that over looked the cove. His laughter was abruptly stopped as he reached into his life vest.

“Oh no!” He cried as he patted himself down, looking for a camera.

Mabel lifted his hat, exposing the camera underneath it, “Boop.”

“Ah ha!” Dipper started taking loads of pictures of this thrashing beast.

“Did you get any good ones?” Steven asked.

Dipper snapped another shot before answering, “They’re all good ones!”

The Gobblewonker shook the walls of the cove as it tried to break free, causing a stalactite to break from the ceiling and land on its head with a clang. Steven heard the unmistakable buzzing of electricity as the light faded from the Gobblewonker’s eyes. Literally faded, like a light being turned off.

“What?” Dipper said.

He climbed down the ledge, followed by Steven.

“Careful,” Steven said as Dipper jumped onto the flipper of the Gobblewonker, and climbed up its side.

Dipper knocked on the beast, and heard the hollow clunking sound of metal.

“What?” 

He climbed further up the side to the top. Steven followed, wanting to make sure Dipper didn’t fall.

“Hey Guys!” Dipper called to Mabel and Soos, “Come check this out!”

The other two started to climb down the ledge onto the monster as Steven reached the top, and saw what Dipper was looking at. It was a hatch, like you’d find on a submarine. Dipper waited until Soos and Mabel had joined them before opening it. A puff of steam blew out of the hatch as they heard a voice come from within.

“Work the bellows in the… huh? Aw, banjo polish.”

Inside sat Fiddleford McGucket, who was now staring up at them.

“You? You made this? Why?” Dipper asked.

“Well, I… the man started, “I just wanted attention.” 

“I still don’t understand…” Dipper said.

“Well, first I just hootenannied up a biomechanical brainwave generator, and then I learned how to operate a stick shift with my beard!” Fiddleford tapped his foot as his beard wrapped around a stick shift.

Steven felt betrayed. Not a lot, but kinda. He had trusted this man, and he had lied. Would he keep his promise to not tell people about the Pink Diamond thing? Steven began to worry.

“Okay, Yeah, but why did you do it?” Mabel asked.

“Well, when you get to be an old fella like me, nobody pays any attention to you anymore. My own son hasn’t visited me in months!” The man looked sadly at the four of them. “So I figured maybe I’d catch his fancy with a fifteen ton aquatic robot.”

He laughed, but it faded into a sigh, “In retrospect, it seems a bit contrived. You just don’t know the lengths us old-timers go through for a little quality time with our family.”

All this family talk made Steven miss his. He hadn’t talked to them in a few days, and hadn’t even seen them Christmas. He should call them when he gets back to the Shack.

“Dude, I guess the real lake monster is you too,” Soos said, talking to the twins.

“Soos,” Steven reprimanded.

“Sorry, it just, like, boom, just popped up into my head there,” Soos apologized.

“So… did you ever talk to your son about how you felt?” Steven asked.

“No, sir, I got to work straight on the robot,” Fiddleford pressed a button and a slideshow popped up, showing a diagram of the robot. “I made lots of robots in my day. Like when my wife left me and I made a homicidal pterodactyl-tron. Or when my pal Ernie didn’t come to my retirement party I constructed an 80 ton shame-bot that exploded the entire downtown area.”

Fiddleford started laughing like a madman, which weirded Steven out a bit.

“Welp, time to get back to work on my death ray!” And with that, Fiddleford ducked back into the mechanical beast.

Dipper sighed, “So much for the photo contest.”

Steven patted him on the back, “You still have one roll of film left.”

Dipper looked over at Mabel.

“What do you want to do with it?”

———

Managed to maneuver the S.S.Cool Due out of the cove, and caught up with Stan, who was driving back to the docks.

“Hey! Over here!” Dipper called out, gaining Stan’s attention.

Stan looked up just as Dipper snapped a picture of him, “what? Kids? I thought you two were off playin’ spin the bottle with Soos.”

Steven watched the twins apologize to Stan and ask if his boat had room for two more. Stan smiled and made a joke about threading a fish hook with his eyes closed. The twins laughed as they got into the Stan o’ War. Steven smiled as he and Soos drove away, leaving The twins to spend some family time with Stan.

“Crazy day,” Soos said.

“Yeah…” Steven looked back to see the three of them laughing and he was glad the twins started to realize the importance of family.

———

Steven sat at the dining table in the Shack and pulled out his phone. He had just finished eating a dinner he made for himself as he waited for the Pines family to return from the fishing trip. He thought about making dinner for them as well, but he figured that they’d like to make dinner out of the fish they caught today. He dialed Pearl’s number and pressed video chat. It rang a few times before Pearl picked up.

“Steven!”

“Hi Pearl!”

“Yo, is that Steven?” He heard Amethyst say.

She popped into frame, “Yo, Ste-man, what’s up?”

He saw Garnet walk past them before stopping and ducking into view.

“Hello Steven. How are you?”

“Hey guys! I’ve been having an awesome time in Gravity Falls!”

He went on to detail the events of the past few days and he noticed Pearl start to look a little worried.

“Just make sure not to overwhelm yourself, Steven,” she advised.

“Don’t worry Pearl, I’m fine, really. I’m actually doing pretty good. And I’ve been using my gem powers again! I’ve kinda been NEEDING to use them, but that’s besides the point. It’s been… nice, to not keep a part of me hidden,” Steven said.

“What do you mean, NEEDING-?” Pearl started before being cut off by Garnet.

“Just don’t push it too far, Steven.”

Just then Steven heard the door to the Shack open and slam shut, signaling the return of the Pines family.

“Guys! There are some people I want you to meet. It’s the people I’ve been living with!” He turned towards the door just in time to see Dipper and Mabel walk in.

“Hey, there’s some people I want you to meet!” 

“Omg who?” Mabel said excitedly.

Steven turned the phone to show the twins.

“Hello!” The gems said in unison.

Steven pointed at them on the screen, “This is Pearl, Amethyst, and Garnet.”

“Hi!” Mabel said, waving frantically.

Garnet gave a little wave, “It’s nice to meet you,”

Dipper just stood there, mouth agape. Mabel grabbed his arm and had him start waving too.

“Uh, hi,” Dipper yanked his arm from Mabel’s grip and gave them a little wave.

“Guys, this is Dipper and Mabel. They are the niece and nephew of the man who owns this house.

“How delightful!” Pearl said, “What is a niece and nephew, again?”

Steven gave a little laugh. The gems still sometimes forget about labels for familial relations.

“C’mon, Pearl, a niece and nephew are the children of the parent’s cousin!” Amethyst explained.

“Actually, the children of a parent's sibling. Like how I’m a nephew to the Diamonds. They were my mom’s sisters, and I’m the child of their sister, so I'm their nephew!” Steven explained.

“Ooooh, well, it’s lovely to meet you two,” Pearl said with a smile. 

“We’re also twins!” Mabel chimed it.

“Like Kiki and Jenny,” Steven added.

Amethyst squinted at them, “But you two don’t look alike.”

“Twins don’t have to look the same,” Dipper said, still looking at the screen with a hint of disbelief.

It was just then Steven remembered that Dipper still doesn’t know about the gem stuff, and that Amethyst is purple, the most noticeable thing that he could probably see on the small screen. Steven quickly turned the phone to face him again.

“Well, I have to get going. Goodnight you guys!”

“Gn dude.”

“Goodnight.”

“Goodnight, Steven!”

Steven ended the call and looked over back at the twins.

Mabel smiled, “They seem nice,” she said.

“What was that?!” Dipper asked.

Steven smiled nervously, pretending not to know what Dipper was talking about, “What was what?”

Dipper stared at Steven, “Your friend is purple! How?!”

This was bound to happen, so Steven figured he would just get it over with.

“Well-“

He was cut off by Stan walking into the kitchen.

“Who wants trout for dinner?” He asked.

“I do!” Mabel said before running off to help Stan bring in all the fish.

Steven sighed.

“I’ll tell you later, I’m pretty tired, I think I’m gonna go sleep for 13 hours,” Steven got up and patted Dipper’s head before retiring to his room.

——-

After a filling dinner, Dipper sat in his bed, writing in his journal. He had seen some weird things today, but probably the weirdest was Steven. He saw him jump twenty feet in the air and kick a tree! Not only that, he punched the fake Gobblewonker in the jaw, with something pink on his hand. Then there was that thing with Soos. He had blood on his face, but no visible cut. And Dipper was pretty sure he saw one, but not until after Steven had helped him up.

“Mabel, have you noticed anything weird about Steven?” Dipper asked.

“I’ve noticed plenty of things about Steven, which one are you talking about?” Mabel said.

“I saw him jump twenty feet in the air and kick a tree to stop it from falling on us,” Dipper explained.

“Oh yeah, Steven has super powers,” she replied nonchalantly.

“What!?”

“Yeah, he can run really fast, jump really high, fall really slow, summon a floating shield and he is super strong,” Mabel flexed her arms, showing off nonexistent giant muscles.

“And why haven’t you mentioned this before?!”

She frowned, “I tried! But you kept brushing me off. But isn’t it cool! He’s like some sort of superhero! Haha!” 

She bounced on her bed before landing on her butt and laying down and pulling the covers over herself.

“He also has a pink gem thing on his belly, where his belly button should be. Oh my gosh!” She sat straight up, “he doesn’t have a belly button! That’s so weird. And cool!”

She laid back down again and saw Dipper writing frantically in his journal.

“And why was his friend purple?” He muttered to himself.

“Oh!” Mabel cut it, “She’s probably a Gem. Steven told me about a type of people that lives in Beach city called Gems. And Steven is half Gem. Gems have a gemstone on their body, have magic powers, and are made of light!” She looked over at Dipper, “Isn’t that cool?”

Dipper stared at her, mouth open wide.

“He told you all this?”

“Yeah, he kinda wanted to keep it a secret, but he’s not the best at lying. He told me not to tell anyone but you, and I kinda forgot to tell you,” she shrugged, “Whoops.”

“Huh…” Dipper stared at the journal, not sure what else to write. He jotted down everything Mabel just said. He’d have to investigate Steven more. But now, sleep. They had had a long day.

“Okay, well, I’m going to sleep,” Dipper closed the journal and placed it on the nightstand before turning off the light.

“Goodnight, Mabel.”

“Goodnight, Dipper.”


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steven has a nightmare

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the late update. I’m now working two jobs at the moment, so I don’t have a lot of time to write. But, I will when I can. I have so many ideas. But sorry it’s also so short. I just needed to get something out. Inspired by _spectra.bear_ on Instagram

Steven couldn’t sleep. He had just had another life or death experience. Granted, it wasn’t gem related, but still, he, the twins, and Soos could’ve died. He doubted Fiddleford would’ve actually killed them, but it felt life or death in the moment. He missed the feeling of adventure, but he did not miss the fear of facing danger. He sat up. He should probably leave. This town is dangerous. But something told him to stay, that he shouldn’t leave just yet. He felt needed. By what he didn’t know. He laid back down. Maybe it was his desire to protect the twins. He didn’t want them to experience the things he did. Besides, he had things under control. He had a video call with his therapist a few days ago, and has another in two days. He’ll talk to them then. Maybe they will help them figure this out. He felt his eyelids get heavy and they started to slowly close. Soon, Steven was plunged into darkness and he was fast asleep.

To say he dreamed of nothing would be a lie. Most of his dreams were nonsensical, different things from the last week jumbled together. A plaidypus was surfing on Dipper’s back while wearing a fedora. Nothing meaningful. But a few of his dreams were eerie and strange. A swing set, with one of the seats broken. A forest of trees with eyes hidden in the empty space. He heard that cruel laugh, the one he hoped he would never hear again. It echoed in the forest, and he felt like he was being watched. He stepped out into a clearing, and the sun seemed to bear down on him, the light burning his skin. Against his better judgement, he looked up and saw the sun was in the shape of a yellow triangle. A giant eye opened on the triangle and Steven yelped in surprise, falling backwards. He heard that laugh, and saw the triangle sun shake. The laugh was coming from it. He shut his eyes tight, wishing he could go back to surfing with a fedora-ed plaidypus. He felt a hand grab him. He knew it was a hand, because he had been grabbed like this before. He looked up and saw the giant triangle had grown an arm and grabbed him, lifting him high off the ground. He tried to cover his gem, but the hand had too tight of a grip on him. He felt himself start to panic as he struggled against the grip. The triangle lifted him until he was under its eye. He felt as though it was looking right through him, as if it could see into his mind. It analyzed him, its gaze seemed to read every inch of him. It squinted, as if smiling. 

“You’ll do just nicely,” He heard that cruel voice say. 

Then he was falling. Falling and falling and falling, though a dark empty space. The only light came from his gem, which glowed faintly. He saw his body; his room, beneath him. He saw Stan shaking him and calling his name. He collided with his body and woke with a start, covered in sweat.

“Geez kid, don’t scare me like that,” Stan said, who had jumped back when Steven suddenly sat up. 

Steven breathes heavily, as if he had run a marathon, “What…?” He asked.

Stan had a look of concern; genuine concern, a look Steven had never seen him wear.

“Is everything okay, kid?” He asked.

“I…” Steven placed a hand on his head and stared down at the blankets. He can’t just say ‘I’m fine.’ Doing that led to disaster. Steven took deep breaths, slowing his pounding heart.

“I had a nightmare, but it wasn’t normal.”

“Wasn’t normal? I believe that,” Stan pointed it out the door, “I saw it on the TV!”

Steven looked up at him. He was broadcasting his dreams again? That couldn’t be good. But it wasn’t about his past. It was something new, something that didn’t belong. Something’s going on, but Steven couldn’t put his finger on what it was. But it definitely had to do with that yellow triangle.

“I’m sorry, that happens sometimes… but it hasn't happened in a while…” 

Steven was worried. Was this a bad omen?

“Are you okay?” Stan asked.

Steven nodded, “I’m okay. I just needed to calm down.”

“Good. Now,” Stan stood up tall, towering over Steven. “You’re gonna explain what that was and how you could do that.”

“What?”

“I’m trying to see if I can trust you around the kids,” Stan said.

Steven gulped, and he felt his heart rate rise again. 

“I, uh, so, um.. it’s really hard to explain.”

Stan grabbed a chair from Steven’s desk.

“Start from the top.”

And so Steven did. He started with the gems; what they are and the things they could do. Then moving onto how he was half gem, and how his mom… died so he could exist. He talked about how his mom had powers, and how he had inherited them. He tried not to spill everything, but at some point he eventually did. Stan’s stern, calculating expression soon had calmed. He listened and didn’t interrupt. Not once.

Geez, this kid’s been through a lot.

Steven sighed, ending on his trip. He did manage to omit the monster and murder parts. 

“I’m taking a year long road trip to, I don’t know, find myself? Understand how to be more human and how to grow. I’d been stuck in Beach City my whole life, and I figured it was about time I explored.”

“Understandable,” Stan said nodding. He stood up, “Seems like you’ve done a lot of good, kid. Sucks that you had to go through that so young, but seems like you’ve helped a lot of people... I have a favor to ask.”

Stan looked at him intensely, “Promise me you’ll keep the twins safe. I don’t know what I’d do if something happened to them.”

Steven nodded. That’s what he was going to do anyways.

“I’ll make sure they stay safe.”

“Thanks, kid.”

Stan got up and turned to leave, but stopped.

“And if you need any advice for navigating the mysteries of Gravity Falls, I can help,” he winked, “but don’t tell the twins that. I don’t want them getting into too much trouble.” 

Stan turned around and walked out of Steven’s room, closing the door behind him.

Steven laid back down. He would keep the twins safe. That’s why he felt needed, he told himself. But something was off, like there was more to it. But Steven didn’t have much time to ponder on that feeling, because soon he had slipped into a much needed dreamless sleep.


	7. Head Hunters pt1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> wax stan gets decapitated and connie comes for a visit

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for the long wait, ive been busy with work. this chapter was gonna be too long if i didnt split it into 2 parts. i checked my google docs for how many pages of this fic i've written and its 63! wow! i didnt realize ive written so much.

Steven slept in late the next morning. The events of the previous night still played in his head. He felt well rested, but uneasy about his nightmare. What was that entity that seemed to invade his dream? He walked into the kitchen and poured himself a bowl of cereal before joining the twins in the living room.

“What are you guys watching?” He asked before sitting in the arm chair.

“Duck-tective,” Mabel said, not looking away from the tv. She was knitting a new sweater.

“Hm, I’ve never heard of it,” Steven said.

Dipper glanced back at Steven, “Its kinda dumb, yet oddly charming.”

“Ooh, I getcha, I used to watch the show called Crying Breakfast Friends. It was oddly charming as well,”

Steven looked down at Mabel knitting, “Making a new sweater I see.”

Mabel nodded, “It’s a surprise for a certain someone.”

Steven smiled before looking at the tv. He had a feeling the sweater was for him.

The duck was quacking on the tv while the captions read, “Or was it… MURDER?!”

Mable dropped her knitting needles, “That duck is a genius.”

“Eh,” Dipper said, “It’s easier to find clues when your so close to the ground.”

Steven chortled. Dipper was right.

“Are you saying you could outwit Duck-tective?” Mabel said, squinting at Dipper.

Dipper smiled smugly, “Mabel, I have very keen powers of observation.”

“Yeah, that’s totally why you discovered Steven’s secret before me. Oh wait! You didn’t. Ha!” Mabel said, punching Dipper in the arm.

Steven gave a nervous laugh. At this point the entire Pines family new his secret, and it didn’t bother him as much as he thought it would. It was almost like a weight had been lifted off his chest. He didn’t have to hide from the people he was living in close proximity with, and that was okay.

“Hey dudes!” Soos came into the room, pulling Steven from his thoughts.

“You’ll never guess what I found!”

“Buried treasure!” Dipper yelled.

“Buried- Hey, I was gonna say that,” Mabel followed up.

“No, even cooler,” Soos waved his hand, gesturing them to follow him.

They walked down the hallway, the twins at Soos’s heels.

“So I was cleaning up when I found this secret door hidden behind the wall paper,” Soos turned to face them. “It’s crazy bonkers creepy.”

The door squeaked as Soos opened it, revealing the contents of the room. Inside stood a plethora of wax figures. Dipper was the first to step into the room.

“Woah! It’s a secret wax museum,” Dipper pulled out a flashlight from his vest and shined it around the room.

“They’re so life like,” Mabel said, poking at one.

“Except for that one,” Dipper said, his flashlight pointing at one of the figures.

Suddenly, that figure spoke, “Hello!”

They all screamed. Dipper pointed the flashlight at the figures face. It’s turned out to just be Stan. He chuckled.

“It’s just me, your Grunkle Stan!”

“Oh geez, you scared us!” Steven said, clutching his chest dramatically. 

Stan laughed, turning on the lights. “Welcome to the Gravity Falls wax museum! It was one of our most popular attractions! Before I forgot all about it. I got ‘em all!”

Stan went around the room pointing at the different figures, “Genghis Khan, Sherlock Holmes, some kinda, I don’t know, goblin man,” he said, pointing at a wax figure of Larry King.

Steven looked around the room and shuddered, “Is anyone else getting the creeps here?”

Dipper looked up at him and nodded, “Yeah, something totally feels off.”

“Oh don’t be such a big baby, it’s just wax,” Mabel said, punching Dipper in the arm.

“Hey,” Steven said, scolding her.

“And now, for my personal favorite. Wax Abraham Lincoln, right over-“ he gestured at a melted pile of wax, “Oh! Oh, no! Come on! Who left the blinds open?”

Sunlight poured in through a small open window, right onto the melted pile of wax.

“Wax John Wilkes Booth, I’m looking in your direction!” Stan sighed, kneeling down and dipping a finger into the wax, “How do you fix a wax figure?”

Mabel walked over to Stan, “Cheer up, Grunkle Stan. Where’s that smile?” 

“Meh,” Stan grumbled.

Mabel poked at Stan’s face, “beep, bop, boop.”

“Ow.” Mabel had poke Stan in the eye.

She took a step back, “Don’t worry, Grunkle Stan, I’ll make you a new wax figure from all of this old wax!”

“You really think you could make one of these puppies?” Stan asked skeptically.

Mabel gave Stan a serious expression, “Grunkle Stan, I’m an arts and crafts master. Why do you think I always have this glue gun stuck to my arm?”

She lifted up her arm to reveal that a glue gun was indeed stuck to her sweater sleeve. She tried to shake it off.

“Is that safe?” Steven asked.

Mabel shrugged, “I don’t know.”

Stan smiled, “I like your gumption, kid.”

“I don’t know what that word means, but thank you,” Mabel said.

She turned around to face the rest of the group.

“Alright everyone out, I must brainstorm my masterpiece,” she showed everyone out of the room and closed the door behind them.

“Do you think she’ll actually be able to do it?” Steven asked.

“If I know my sister, and I do, she’ll probably have it done in a few hours, and have it covered in glitter,” Dipper shrugged before walking away.

——— 

After about an hour, Steven peaked his head into the room to see Mabel wearing a beret in front of a huge block of wax. He saw the rest of the figures had been cleared out of the room. He stepped inside to ask Mabel about her progress. But Mabel turned around before he had the chance to say anything.

“Steven! What do you think of my wax figure idea?” She said, holding up a sketch pad, showing a horse human hybrid, but not quite a centaur.

“She’s part fairy princess, and part horse fairy princess.”

Steven smiled, that sounded like a kinda cool idea, but her design looked a little disturbing. 

“Maybe you should carve something from real life? Show your skill to show everyone you amazing attention to detail,” Steven suggested.

Mabel quickly sketched up a new drawing.  
“Like a waffle with big arms!” She said, holding up her sketch pad again.

“Hm,” Steven said when an idea struck him, “Maybe you should make someone in your family? I bet they would greatly appreciate it.”

Just then Stan walked in, half dressed in his Mister Mystery suit.

“Kids, have you seen my pants?” He asked, unknowingly striking a pose in front of Mabel.

Mabel turned around and Steven heard her say, “Oh muse, you work in mysterious ways.”

Stan turned and looked at Steven, “Why is she taking to the ceiling?”

“I don’t know but I think we should let her work in peace. She’s been struck by inspiration. Besides, I think I saw your pants in the living room,” Steven said, leading Stan out of the room.

———

Several hours later, Steven, Dipper, and Soos entered the room to check on her wax figure’s progress. She stood, accessing the statue of Stan.

“I think it needs more glitter,” she said, rubbing at her chin in contemplation.

Steven nodded, “Agreed.”

Soos handed Mabel the bucket of glitter that sat next to him, and she threw the whole bucket onto the figure.

Stan walked into the room, looking at his feet, “Okay, I’ve got my pants, but now I’m missing my sh-“ he looked up at the statue and screamed before falling over, looking thoroughly spooked. 

Stan didn’t seem the kind of man to get scared so easily, so why was looking at this statue so surprising? Steven wondered.

Mabel leaned over Stan on the ground, “What do you think?” She asked.

“I think…” 

Stan looked at the statue hesitantly for a moment before smiling, trying to cover up his moment of uncertainty, hoping it went by unnoticed. Sadly, it did not. Steven sensed that Stan was genuinely surprised and slightly disturbed to see the statue, as if he wasn’t expecting to see his face looking back at him, which Steven thought was odd.

“...The wax museum’s back in business!” He exclaimed. 

He stood up and briskly walked out of the room, leaving Steven confused as to his reaction, as the rest of the group stood oblivious.

——- 

Steven sat in front of the stage, watching as people filtered into the seating area. He looked up to see Mabel pacing, looking nervous yet excited. Soon enough, the seating area was full, and the unveiling was about to begin. Stan walked up to the podium and gave a little cough before speaking into the mic.

“You all know me, folks, town darling, ‘Mr. Mystery.’ Please ladies control yourselves.”

The crowd was silent.

Stan winked at the crowd before continuing his speech, “As you know, I always bring the people of this fair town novelties and befuddlements, the likes of which the world has never known. But enough about me,” he walked over to a statue covered in a cloth that stood next to him on the stage, “Behold…”

He pulled the cloth off to reveal… “Me!” He exclaimed.

The wax figure of Stan stood sparkling in the sunlight, Mabel did a really good job. Soos played a little fanfare tune on his keyboard before pressing a key that just said, “Yeah!”

Steven’s clapping was louder than what little clapping the rest of the crowd did. Steven had a feeling people weren’t gonna be super enthusiastic about this reveal, but he didn’t expect this. He tried to make up for it by clapping louder and whooping a little. A few people looked at him quizzically and he felt a little self conscious so he stopped.

“And now a word from our own, Mabelangelo!” Stan said, handing the mic to Mabel.

She took the mic and addressed the crowd, “ Thank you for coming. I made this sculpture with my own two hands!,” She raised her hands triumphantly in the air before lowering them again. “It’s covered in my blood, sweat, tears, and other fluids.”

The crowd gave various expressions of disgust. Steven just gave a nervous smile. She may have not gotten the saying exactly right, but she’s got the spirit. Regardless, Mabel’s smile never faltered. 

“I will now take questions!” She peered into the crowd before pointing at Fiddleford, “You there.”

He stood up, “Old Man McGucket, local kook. Are the wax figures alive? And, follow up question, can I survive the wax-man uprising?” He said, his voice conveying complete seriousness. 

Mabel looked a little confused, but answered anyway, “Um… yes! Next question.”

A man with a funny mustache, and a hat labeled ‘hat’ spoke next, “Toby Determined, Gravity Falls Gossiper. Do you really think this constitutes a wonder of the world?”

“Your microphone’s a turkey baster, Toby.” Stan deadpanned.

Toby looked sadly at the ground, “It certainly is-”

“Next question,” Stan said, cutting off Toby.

A woman stood up in the crowd, “Shandra Jimenez, a REAL reporter. Your fliers promised free pizza with admission to this event, is this true?”

Steven looked at the flier she was holding and then back at Stan. He forgot Stan had him make those fliers. Steven looked around and saw no pizza, realizing Stan had basically scammed people to come to the re-opening of the wax museum. He didn’t blame him, though. Wax museums are difficult to attract hype for.

The crowd started to yell thing along the line of, “I want my pizza!” At Stan.

Stan stared at the crowd, “Uh… that was a typo. Goodnight everyone!” He said before throwing a smoke popper on the ground to obscure his escape. Steven saw a flash in his peripheral vision as Stan ran past the admissions table and snatched the money box from it.

People angrily left the event, some threw their chairs, and one even punched a wooden sign pole. Steven watched them all leave before walking to the sign pole and giving it a kiss, fixing it. He walked back to where Dipper and Wendy were sitting at the admissions table. Mabel joined them.

“I think that went well,” she said.

Steven laughed nervously, “could’ve done without all the shouting, though.”

Mabel shrugged, “You win some, you lose some.”

Steven helped clean up, picking up trash and carrying the wax figures back inside. He had started to use his strength again for carrying things, because it just made things easier. But he had forgotten Wendy and Soos were there.

Wendy noticed Steven carrying four wax figures at once.

“Dude, do you need help?” She asked, “Those look kind of heavy.”

Steven remembered she didn’t know and quickly came up with an excuse.

“It’s alright, I did weight training, in, uh, in high school. I’m really strong,” he gave her a forced smile.

She looked at his suspiciously, “Okay, if you say so.”

She walked back over to Soos.

“Have you noticed anything Strange about Steven?” She asked.

Soos chuckled, “Oh yeah, totally. Once, he picked me up. Like, over his head, like I weighed nothing. And Mabel! He picked me and Mabel up at the same time! And I think I one time saw him glowing pink,” Soos shrugged, “But I never asked about it. We all have secrets, so I rather not bug him.”

“Hm, I guess you’re right,” Wendy said, looking back as Steven emerged from the house and picked up four more statues. As he lifted them onto his shoulders, Wendy saw his shirt lift up a bit and saw a pink gem on his stomach, right where his belly button should be. 

“Soos,” she half whispered, “Look. At his stomach.”

She pointed over at Steven.

“Omg,” Soos said quietly, “He’s bedazzled.”

Wendy and Soos watched Steven walk into the Mystery Shack. They looked back at each other and spoke simultaneously 

“Dude…”

__________________________

Steven, Mabel, Dipper and Stan all gathered in the living room of the Shack. Mabel was wiping dust off of Wax Stan while Stan counted the money he had scammed from the townspeople.

“Hot pumpkin pie! Look at all this cash!” he said, thumbing through the wad of bills in his hand. “And I owe it all to one person… this guy!” Stan gestured to Wax Stan, who was sitting in the armchair in front of the tv. Mabel elbowed him in the stomach.

“Oh!” he chuckled, “Yeah, you too, you little gremlin.”

Stan gave Mabel an affectionate head pat before ushering her and Dipper out of the room.

“Now, you kids wash up. We have another long day of fleecing rubes tomorrow. Go, go!”

Stan sighed dramatically, leaning on Wax Stan, “Kids, amiright?”

He turned to Steven, “I'm just gonna watch some TV, you’re free to join me.”  
Steven shook his head, “No, I’ll have to pass. I promised I would call my girlfriend tonight.”

Stan smiled, waggling his eyebrows at Steven, “So, Mr. Universe has a girl, huh?”

Steven blushed a little bit, “Yeah, she’s the greatest. She’s so kind, and understanding, and one heck of a swordswoman. Seriously, I would never want to face her in combat. Without my powers, she’d kick my butt.”

He laughed, they should try that sometime.

Stan looked a little confused, “Swordswoman?”

Steven nodded, “Yeah, she used to use my mother’s sword, but that broke. So my friend Bismuth forged her a new one.”

“Huh, well I’ll be damned,” Stan muttered. He then spoke louder, “Sounds like one helluva woman, you're lucky to have her.”

Steven nodded, a big smile on his face. Just then, his phone rang. He looked at it.

“Oh! That's her, goodnight Mr. Pines!” Steven said, rushing to his room.

He jumped onto his bed before answering.

“Hi Connie!”

“Steven! How have you been?”

“Better now that I’m talking to you.” Steven smiled.

Connie looked immediately worried, “What's wrong?”

Steven sighed.

“I had a nightmare last night. But it wasn’t normal. It wasn’t about my past or things I had experienced. It was new, which was strange. But that's not where it stops. Connie, something was in my dream last night.”

Connie looked worried, but now also a little confused, “How so?”

Steven took a deep breath before continuing, “There was someTHING; like, another entity. He was in the shape of a triangle, with a singular eye. His laugh was diabolical, and it made me scared. Like, running away fear. But he grabbed me before I could and said something like, ‘You’ll do just nicely,’ and then I was falling and falling and fell back into my body. Apparently, I had projected the dream onto the TV in the living room because Mr. Pines, the guy who I'm renting a room from, was there trying to wake me up.”

“Steven, I’m-” Connie said, only to be cut off from Stan yelling.

“No, NO, NO!”

“I gotta go Connie, I’ll call you back in a bit. I love you.”

“I love you too, but Steven I’m coming o-” Was all Connie was able to say before Steven hung up. 

Steven rushed to the living room to see Stan and the twins standing over a decapitated Wax Stan.

“Wax Stan! He’s been, m-m-murdered!” Stan cried.

“Oh no!” Mabel said, “We have to call the police!”

She rushed over to the phone.

“Wait! Mabel!” Dipper ran after her, leaving Steven with a crying Stan and a headless Wax Stan.

Steven walked over to Stan to console him. He seemed abnormally sad about this. Like, he knew Stan was kinda self conceited, but this was a bit much. Maybe there was something else. Maybe Stan saw Wax Stan as a symbolization for something. But what that something was, he didn’t know. 

“It’s okay Mr. Pines, we’ll find the head and glue it back on. It’ll be good as new.” Steven smiled at him.

“It won’t be the same!” Stan sobbed, “I’d rather find the-” he paused, making sure the kids were out of the room, “- damn bastard that did this.”

Just then, Mabel came back into the room.

“The police are on their way!” she said, pointing a finger in the air in triumph.

Dipper entered the room after her, “Yeah, maybe they can finder the murderer. Although, I bet I could too.”

“Good thinking, you kids! When I find the fiend that did this, we’re gonna make him pay!” the Pines cheered while Steven looked at Wax Stan nervously. Was calling the police a bit much?

Steven saw a flash of pink outside and rapid footsteps to the door of the Shack. He looked out the window and saw Lion. There was a polite knocking at the door.

“Wow, that was fast,” Stan said.

“I don’t think it’s the police,” Steven said, walking to the door. He was excited to see Connie, but also a little nervous. He didn’t know how Stan would react to a magical, pink, teleporting, lion.

He opened the door to see a worried Connie.

“Are you okay?” she asked, stepping into the house. He closed the door behind her.

Steven smiled, trying to cover his nerves, “I’m fine, but we do have someone here who isn’t.”

Her eyes widened in fear.

Steven quickly responded, “Oh! No, it’s just a wax figure. Everyone is being a bit dramatic about it and I guess I got a little swept up in it.”

They walked to the living room and saw Stan and the twins looking at Steven quizzically.

“Everyone, this is my girlfriend, Connie,” Steven raised a hand, gesturing to Connie. She gave a little wave.

Mabel immediately jumped up and ran over to shake Connie’s hand, “Hi, I’m Mabel. Arts and craft extraordinaire.”

“Yeah, That’s Mabel, and the other twin is Dipper, and that’s Mr. Pines, their great uncle,” Steven said pointing at them as he identified them.

Dipper gave a little wave while Stan wiped his tears.

“Sorry,” Stan sniffled, “you kinda came at a bad time.”

“Oh,” Connie said, looking at Steven for context. 

“Wax Stan got his head lopped off and we don't know who did it.”

“Wax… Stan?” Connie said, looking at the figure laying headless on the ground.

“Oh!” Steven said, not realizing that he didn't tell her who Stan was. “Mr. Pines is Stan. Stan Pines.” 

“Oh! So your wax twin got beheaded, got it,” she said.

“IS THAT A PINK LION?!” Mabel yelled.

Her yelling brought everyone’s attention to the outside, where Lion was chasing a lizard. This distracted everyone, so the new tears welling up in Stan’s eyes almost went unnoticed. Almost. Mabel ran outside, followed by Dipper, who was yelling, “Wait! It might be dangerous!” Connie looked at Steven.

“It’s okay, they know,” he said.

She nodded before following Dipper and Mabel outside, to give them a proper introduction to Lion.

Steven walked over to Stan as he tried to quickly wipe the new tears from his eyes.

“Are you okay?” Steven asked.

Stan sighed, “I’ve been through a lot in my life kid, that’s all you need to know.”

He got up and looked out at the window to see Mabel riding on the back of the pink lion.

“So how did your girlfriend get here so fast and what’s up with the lion?” Stan asked.

“Well,” Steven rubbed the back of his neck, “I told her about my dream, and you started yelling and I think she thought something was happening to me, so she came as soon as she could. Also Lion can create portals to teleport through.”

Stan looked at him, mouth agape, “Did… did you say portals?”


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The gang solves a murder

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Be prepared, bc this is a long chapter. And now i have more free time do expect more updates.

Steven smiled at Stan, “Yeah! He roars and this ball of light come out of his mouth and makes a portal! It has a short range, though. But once, he took us to the moon! He was really tuckered out after that.”

Stan stood still for a beat before seeming to deflate a little bit, “Oh.”

Steven glanced out the window to now see Dipper riding Lion. 

“Want to come with me to look at Lion?” Steven asked

Stan sighed, “No, I think I’m going to get a cup of coffee.”

Steven watched Stan walk into the kitchen and began pouring a cup. Man, he’s really not okay. 

“Mr. Pines-“

Stan raised a hand, stopping Steven, “I’ll be fine. I just… need at be alone right now. Also, you can call me Stan. I don’t mind.” 

Steven nodded, realizing now was not the time to pry, and instead went outside to say hi to Lion. As he approached, Dipper slid off of Lion’s back.

“Wow, Connie, that was really cool,” Dipper said, inspecting Lion. 

Connie gave a little laugh, “I’m glad you liked it!” She noticed Steven walking up. She walked over, grabbing his hand and pulling him towards Lion. 

“Hey, kids, want to see another cool trick?” She asked.

Mabel and Dipper nodded. 

“Pull something out of Lion’s mane,” Connie whispered to Steven. Steven winked at Connie.

“Hey, guys, check this out,” he said before putting a hand into Lion’s mane. A ring of light appeared around Steven’s arm as he reached deeper and deeper, trying to find something.

“Hold on,” he said before taking a deep breath and crawling into Lion’s man, with half of his body still in Gravity Falls. He saw his mother’s flag and grabbed that. He pulled back and held it up for the twins to see. Both of their mouths were wide open. 

Dipper was the first to speak, “Woah…” 

“Pretty cool right?” Connie said, sounding a little smug.

Mabel’s eyes widened, “Can I go in?!”

Steven chuckled.

“Sorry, I’m the only one able to do that,” Steven said, holding out the flag for the twins to see. 

Dipper delicately touched the fabric, afraid it might tear. This flag just got pulled from a lion’s mane. He didn’t know what it was made of.

“What is it?” He asked.

“Well,” Steven hesitatingly looked at Connie. She smiled, letting him know she was there for him. He took a deep breath before continuing. “My mom was the leader of a rebellion six thousand years ago. And this was the flag they waved as they rushed into battle.

Steven held the flag up high and watched it flutter in the cool night breeze. 

“Wait,” Dipper tore his eyes away from the flag and stared quizzically at Steven. “Six thousand years? That’s impossible.”

Mabel lightly hit her brother’s shoulder, “He’s half Gem, remember?”

“Oh yeah,” Dipper places a finger on his chin, coming up with a new question.

“What is a Gem exactly? And who was your mom fighting?” He asked.

“A gem is a being that’s made of light that is projected from different types of gemstones. And unless their gems get shattered, they’re basically immortal,” Steven explained.

“Are you immortal?” Mabel asked.

He has wondered the same thing, “I don’t know. My gem heals me every time I hurt myself. We won’t know if I’m immortal until I die.” 

“That’s like Schrodinger‘s Cat!” Dipper exclaimed. 

Steven looked at dipper, confused, “What’s Schrodinger’s Cat?”

“Schrodinger’s Cat is a thought experiment where basically the idea is; if you put a cat in a box with a timer set to release poison into the box when it goes off, then close the box, you wont know if the cat is still alive, or if the timer broke and the poison wasn’t released. So until you open the box, the cat is both dead, and alive,” Connie explained, stepping into the conversation. 

“Woah that’s kinda cool,” Steven said, “But also kind sad. Poor cat.”

“Don’t worry Steven, it’s a thought experiment and is purely theoretical. No one actually put a cat in a box,” Connie said, giving him a small pat to comfort him.

“So I’m both immortal and mortal at the same time? That’s... confusing,” Steven frowned.

“Technically,” Dipper cut in, “We are all immortal and mortal at the same time. We don’t know which is which until we die. If we die.”

Steven smiled, at least he wasn’t the only one.

Dipper looked at the flag that Steven now held at his side.

“So... who was your mom fighting?”

Steven tensed up before taking a breath to calm himself down. He’s had over a year of therapy, he can do this.

“Technically, herself?” He answered hesitantly. He waited for the twins to respond. When no response came, only confused looks, he continued.

“So my mom was one of the rulers of this planet called Homeworld. That’s where Gems are from. Her sisters all had colonies on other planets, but she had none. When she was finally given a colony, Earth, she realized what they were doing to colonize it was destroying the organic life on Earth. So she tried to tell her sisters that she didn’t want Earth anymore. Her sisters didn’t listen. So, she assumed the identity of Rose Quartz, a soldier sent to colonize Earth. She led a rebellion against Pink Diamond. So, technically fighting herself.” Steven took another breath. His hand had started to shake a bit, but now that he had started, he might as well finish. “But when the other Diamonds, her sisters, weren't letting her retreat, she faked her own shattering. She managed to win the war after that, but the Diamonds launched one last attack, turning all the Gems on Earth into monsters. She was only able to save Garnet and Pearl, her two close friends, from the blast. They spent the next six thousand years defeating those corrupted Gems and bubbling them until she could find a way to restore them.”

Steven turned around and took a few deep breaths, calming his nerves.

“Bubbling-?” Dipper had started to ask, but was cut off by Mabel whispering into his ear.

Connie reached out and grabbed Steven’s hand, giving it a gentle squeeze to let him know that she was there. He gently squeezed it back. He had missed Connie. He crawled back inside of Lion and put the flag back by the tree. When he came out, Dipper asked another question.

“What happened to the corrupted Gems?”

Steven felt tired. Just telling that story seemed to emotionally drain him a bit. 

“We managed to find a way to uncorrupt them. But I’ll answer your questions later. I think they’ll be asking you questions now,” Steven said, pointing to the cop car that had just pulled up to the Mystery Shack, lights on.

The twins looked at each other before running back to the shack.

“Are you okay?” Connie asked. 

Steven looked back at her. She looked beautiful in the soft moonlight. Her eyes sparkled as they reflected the thousands of stars in the night sky. Her brown hair danced lightly in the midnight summer breeze. She looked at him with love and concern in her eyes. Steven smiled.

“I’m okay. My therapist told me that it’s healthier to acknowledge the past versus ignore it.” 

Steven looked at the Shack before looking back at Connie, “Besides, I have a feeling Dipper wouldn’t stop until I gave him a satisfying answer. I don’t blame him, he’s just a kid.”

Connie gave Steven a hug.

“Just making sure,” she said, a smile in her voice. She pulled back before leaning forward to give Steven a soft kiss on the lips.

“I love you, Steven,” she said.

Steven kissed her forehead.

“I love you too Connie.”

Lion walked over to Steven and licked his hand. Steven looked down at him.

“Blink if this means you love me,” he said.

Lion blinked.

“See,” Connie said, “We all love you, Steven. We’ll always be there for you.”

Steven gave Connie a soft smile, “Thank you.”

He looked at Lion.

“I wonder how upset Stan would be if I brought Lion into the house?” Steven contemplated the idea for a few seconds, “Eh, better not risk it. Lion?”

Lion’s ears perked up.

“I need you to stay near the shack, but out of sight from the sheriff and his deputy. I don’t want them asking why there’s a pink lion here.”

Lion just stared at Steven before seeing a lizard on the ground and chasing it into the woods.

“Good enough,” Steven said. 

They walked back into the shack just as Sheriff Blubs and Deputy Durland were leaving, laughing. They walked into the living room to see Dipper looking upset.

“What happened?” Steven asked.

“They said the case was unsolvable and that I couldn’t solve it! Then they called me a ‘city boy’ and ‘adorable.” Dipper said, looking embarrassed.

“There’s nothing wrong with being a city boy or adorable. Those policemen were just being mean,” Steven said.

Stan sighed, “Well, I think it’s best we all head to bed. you kids have a long day of investigating tomorrow.” Stan turned to Steven and Connie. “Is she staying here tonight?” 

Steven looked at Connie, “Would you?” He asked. 

Connie nodded, “Of course.” She gestured to the backpack on her back, “I brought some overnight stuff just in case.”

“Great, now, go to bed. I gotta deal with this,” Stan said, pointing at the decapitated Wax Stan.

Steven nodded and showed Connie to his room.

The moonlight poured in through the one window in his room, leaving a square of light on the ground. Everything seemed calm, and that the strange attack from before seemed to be nothing but a dream. Steven sat on the bed while Connie looked around the room.

“I’ve noticed a lot of triangle designs in this house,” she said, pointing at the window. Sure enough, the lines that separated the panes of glass created a triangle, with an oval in the center.

“Hm,” Steven said, “That’s strange.”

Connie placed her bag on the floor and took off her shoes before sitting on the bed next to Steven.

“This place seems nice. Other than the murder of wax figures. I’m glad you stopped here, it seems to be helping you,” Connie smiles at him.

Steven has been feeling more and more at home in Gravity Falls. Aside from all the craziness, it just felt… right. He knew his road trip was about finding himself, but it also sometimes felt like he was running from his past. Running from Beach City. Running from being a Gem. But being in Gravity Falls, he felt like he had stopped running. He faced challenges and he overcame them. And it probably helped that those challenges were not Gem related. He reconnected with his gem powers and that felt like a sigh of relief. 

“I think so too,” Steven said. He yawned.

“I’m beat,” Steven said, taking off his shoes and climbing under the covers. He held them open for Connie to get in. She slipped into his bed and Steven wrapped his arms around her. He had really missed her. 

Soon enough, they both had slipped into a deep sleep.

———-

Steven was walking around the mind space he has been in countless times before. It was just an empty grey space. He wandered around, wondering when he would wake up, or if he was going to enter someone’s dream, when all of a sudden he felt himself falling. He landed on sand and looked up to see a beach. For a second he wondered if he was back in Beach City, but didn’t recognize anything. He stood up and looked around and saw two boys running toward him. They both had fluffy hair and red noses, but one had a pair of glasses. They were twins, and one was chasing the other. 

“You can’t catch me! I’m too fast!” One of them yelled.

“Are you sure about that?” The one with glasses said before he jumped forward and tackled the first. 

They both fell and tumbled to Steven’s feet. Steven tried to reach down to help them up, but his hand passed right through the one with glasses. They laid in the sand, laughing.

Suddenly, the scene changed. He was in the Mystery Shack, but it wasn’t the Mystery Shack. Not yet, anyways. The room was covered in science-y gimmicks and papers. He heard a commotion in another room and the scene changed. He was in a grand cavern, and he saw two men. One of them looked like Stan. The other, he didn’t know who it was. His face seemed blurred, like Steven could see it, but not understand it. They were arguing. The other man held out a book and Steven saw he had six fingers. And the book looked like the one Dipper had, but had a one instead of a three on the cover. Stan took the book and more silent words were exchanged. He pulled out a lighter and held it under the book. The blurred man yelled and pushed Stan and the dream changed again. It was another young Stan, although slightly older than the last scene. He was leading a tour through the newly opened Mystery Shack. The scene quickly changed and it was an even older Stan back in the cavern, staring at a giant upside down triangle with a hole in the middle. Stan turned around and started to walk away but abruptly stopped when he saw Steven. “Kid?” Was all he was able to say before Steven took a step back, tripping and landing on his backside, falling out of the dream. He was once again back in that grey space.

Steven's thoughts seemed to race. What could that mean? The beach, with the twins, had to connect to Stan somehow. But how? Was Stan one of those twins? Then the other must be Dipper and Mabel’s great grandfather. And then there was the cavern. Who was Stan talking to? And the journal? Did Stan know the author of the journals?

Steven sat down. That was a lot of information to process. He took a deep breath to clear his head. He had probably entered Stan’s dream. He felt great sadness, almost as if Stan’s emotions had run through him. He was curious, but thought best to not question Stan when he woke up. He did say he’s had a bit of a rough life. But if the other twin was Mabel and Dipper’s grandfather, then why did Stan miss him so much? Or maybe it wasn’t? Things weren’t adding up and it was giving Steven a bit of a headache. He didn’t want to push too far into Stan’s past, but he wanted to help. He would just have to wait for a good time to bring it up. In the meantime, he should really get some sleep. He laid down on the ground of this grey space and closed his eyes.

Steven woke up before Connie, and sat up. Last night was a lot. He didn’t know if he should tell Connie, feeling like it would like sharing a secret Stan told him not to tell. He decided against it, unless something dire came up. He looked at the alarm clock on the nightstand and saw it was 7am. He heard chatter in the living room and debated shaking Connie awake. Before he made a decision, though, Connie woke up.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

Steven shook his head, “Nothing, I just heard talking outside the room.”

They both quickly got dressed and walked out of the room to see the entrance to the living room blocked off by toilet paper that said, ‘DO NOT CROSS CRIME SCENE.’ Steven gave a small chuckle as he and Connie ducked under it.

“Started the investigation already, I see,” Steven said.

Dipper looked up at him and nodded while Mabel took a picture of the headless Wax Stan.

“Wax Stan has lost his head, and it’s up to us to find it,” Dipper said before turning around to look at a cork board covered in pictures of the townspeople.

“There were a lot of unhappy customers at the unveiling yesterday, maybe one of them got revenge?” Steven suggested.

“Yes,” Dipper rubbed at his chin with his thumb and index finger, “It could’ve been anyone.”

“Gasp! Even us!” Mabel said dramatically.

“In this town, anything could be possible,” Dipper said, reaching into his vest before stopping. He looked up at Connie. 

Steven smiled, “Don’t worry she’s cool.”

Connie looked at Steven quizzically, not understanding what was happening. Dipper squinted his eyes, contemplating. Mabel elbowed him. 

“Fine,” he grumbled.

Dipper pulled out the Journal and started flipping through it.

“In a town full of possibilities, it could be months before we find our first clue.” Dipper sighed.

“What was that about?” Connie whispered to Steven.

“Dipper has a journal he found about all the supernatural things in Gravity Falls and he’s really careful about who gets to know about it,” Steven whispered back.

Connie nodded her head in understanding before looking at the ground. Her eyes widened and she pointed at the floor, “Look, a clue!’ She said.

They all looked to the ground and saw footprints in the shag carpet. How they didn’t notice them before is a mystery.

“Look!” Mabel said, pointing at one of the footprints, “That one has a hole in it!”

Indeed, one of the footprints had a half-dollar sized hole in it, where the carpet had not been pressed down. They noticed all the footprints had a hole in the left shoe.

“So our killer had shabby footwear…” Dipper pondered.

“Hey guys, they go this way,” Steven said, following the prints to behind the chair where he found…

“An axe!” Steven picked up the axe and showed it to the twins.

“The murder weapon!” Dipper exclaimed.

Steven held it out for Dipper to see.

“We should show Soos,” Dipper said.

_____________

“So what do you think?” Dipper asked.

They had all gathered in the gift shop where they had found Soos, who was now examining the axe. 

“In my opinion,” he lifted the axe up before letting it fall back into his hand, “this is an axe.”

“Wait a minute,” Mabel said, “The lumberjack!”

“Of course!” Dipper and Mabel said in unison.

“Now hold on,” Steven butted in, “You can’t just assume…”

“But he was furious when he didn’t get that free pizza,” Dipper replied.

“Yeah! Furious for murder!” Mabel said dramatically.

“We should go ask him a few questions, right Steven?” Connie said.

Steven took a deep breath and nodded. This was Dipper’s investigation, he didn’t want to walk all over it.

“Oh, you guys are talking about Manly Dan. He hangs out at this crazy intense biker joint downtown,” Soos butt in.

“Then that’s where we’re going.” Mabel said.

Okay, now Steven had to put a stop to this.

“Guys, I don’t think it would be safe for you guys to infiltrate a biker bar,” Steven warned.

Dipper frowned, “But how else are we going to question him?”

Steven looked at Connie, who nodded.

She looked back at the twins and smiled, “I think we have an idea.”

_________

As they were leaving the Shack, they saw Stan struggling to pull a coffin out of the trunk of his car. He saw the four of him walking by and spoke.

“Hey, give me a hand with this coffin, will yah? I’m doing a memorial service for Wax Stan. Something small, but classy.”

He pulled at the coffin again with a grunt.

“I can help,” Steven said before going over to Stan and picking up the coffin with ease. 

“Wow kid, what have you been eating and can I get some? HA!” Stan slapped Steven on the back.

Steven laughed nervously. The twins don’t know that Stan knows, and right now he kinda wants to keep it that way. He walked the coffin to the porch while Stan continued to talk to the twins.

“So where are you four off to?” He asked.

“We have a big break in the case!” Dipper said excitedly.

“Break in the case!” Mabel echoed.

Steven rejoined them.

“We are heading into town to interrogate the suspect,” he said.

Mabel pulled the axe out of Dipper’s bag, “We have an axe!” 

“This seems like the kind of thing a responsible parent wouldn’t want you doing. Good thing I’m an uncle!” Stan laughed, “Avenge me, kids! Avenge me!”

______

The four of them stood in the alleyway next to the bar.

“So what’s your plan? You guys don’t look 21, so how are you gonna sneak in?” Dipper asked.

“Right through the front door,” Steven said.

“But, how?”

Steven smiled at Connie, excited to show the twins, “You ready?” 

Connie nodded.

They held hands and suddenly they were made of light. Their form merged together before the light subsided to reveal a 6’1”, brown skinned, bushy haired person. They wore a combination of what Steven and Connie were wearing; A pink jacket with a yellow tank top above a dark green Mystery Shack shirt, as well as jeans and white sneakers with pink stripes. Mabel and Dipper’s eyes were wide, and their jaws may as well have been on the ground.

“Hi, I’m Stevonnie,” They held out a hand for the twins to shake. 

Dipper took the hand and shook it lightly, still looking flabbergasted at Stevonnie.

Mabel quickly took the hand and shook it vigorously once Dipper let go.

Dipper shook his head, trying to gather his thoughts.

“How… how did you do that?” Dipper asked, taking out the journal.

“Well, Steven has the Gem ability of fusion; the combining of the mind and body of two gems to make a new one. But since Steven is half human, he can fuse with humans,” Stevonnie smiled.

He wrote, ‘Can fuse with humans to make a new person.’ On Steven’s page Dipper had made in the journal.

“So are you a new person? Do you have Steven and Connie’s memories? Or are you just Steven and Connie sharing the wheel on a ship? Does Connie have control of the right half while Steven has the left? Can you grow a mustache?” Dipper asked, the questions shooting out in rapid fire.

“Yes, yes, kinda, no, yes,” Stevonnie answered.

Dipper feverishly wrote in the journal.

“If you eat something then unfuse, whose stomach is it in?” Mabel asked.

Stevonnie thought for a moment.

“I… don’t know. Anyway, let's get a move on. Do you have the questions?” They asked.

Dipper nodded before handing them a piece of paper and his backpack with the axe.

“See if he recognizes this.”

“Okay, I’ll be back in a bit.”

Stevonnie walked out of the alleyway and towards the doors of The Skull Fracture.

They looked back at the twins who gave them a thumbs up when they heard the bouncer speak.

“Sorry, but we don’t serve minors.”

They whipped their head back around, fearful that their plan had failed before it had even begun when they saw a miner with a pickaxe in front of them.

“Dang-nabbit!” He exclaimed before marching off with a huff.

“ID please,” the bouncer asked.

Stevonnie had forgotten about that part. They smiled.

“Sure, let me just grab my wallet,”

They made a show of looking through their wallet before sighing dramatically.

“I can’t find it. But I’m only going in to talk to Manly Dan.”

They crossed their fingers behind their back.

The bouncer looked them up and down before shrugging.

“Works for me.”

He opened the door and let Stevonnie inside.

When they got into the biker bar, they saw what would be considered, well, a biker bar. There was loud music, men yelling, the clack of pool balls, and the smell of beer and cigarettes. Stevonnie saw one man punch another, sending him into a table and knocking over another man’s beer. The other man stood up and punched the man who knocked over his drink. They stepped over a man lying unconscious on the ground.

“Tough crowd,” They whispered to themselves before laughing quietly. 

Stevonnie spotted Manly Dan in the back, arm wrestling with an arm wrestling arcade game. They walked briskly over to him.

“Manly Dan! Hi! Just the guy I wanted to see,” Stevonnie pulled out the piece of paper and read the first question. “So, where were you last night?

“Punching the clock!” Manly Dan grunted.

“You were at work?” Stevonnie asked.

“No, I was punching that clock!” He pointed out the window as a clock atop of a bent pole. They noticed the clock was broken, forever stuck on the time of 10 o’clock, the time of the murder.

“So, I guess you’ve never seen this before?” Stevonnie pulled out the axe, disregarding the rest of Dipper’s questions.

“Listen, strange lady-man, I wouldn’t pick my teeth with that axe! It's left-handed. I only use my right hand. The manly hand!” Manly Dan ripped the arm off of the arcade game and started to smash it with it while a guy in cowboy boots chanted, “Get him, get him!”

“Wow, he and Jasper would get along great,” Stevonnie muttered to themselves.

They quickly left the bar and regrouped with the twins.

“It’s a left handed ax, so our murderer has to be left handed,” they said, handing the back pack back to Dipper.

Dipper pulled out a notepad and started to write things down. When he was done, he showed Stevonnie and Mabel what he had written.

“These are all of our suspects,” Next to each name were two boxes labeled ‘right-handed’ and ‘left-handed.’ 

“Manly Dan is right handed,” he crossed off the ‘right-handed’ box next to Manly Dan’s name. “So that means all we have to do is find our left-handed suspect, and we got our killer!”

“Oh man, we are on FIRE today! Pa-zow, pa-zow, pa-zow!” Mabel cheered.

“Let’s find our murderer,” Dipper said, giving Mabel and Stevonnie a fist bump.

They spent the rest of the day visiting several suspects in town, finding ways to reveal them to be right-handed, whether it was tricking them to sign something, catch something, or just waving at them. By the time it had started getting dark, they had through almost the whole list. There was only one person left, and it’s all added up. The three of them rushed to the sheriff’s office.

______

It was nighttime by the time they reached his office. The twins and Stevonnie followed Sheriff Blubs and Deputy Durland as they prepared to knock his front door in.

“You three better be right about this, or you’ll never hear the end of it,” Sheriff Blubs whispered to them.

“The evidence is irrefutable,” Dipper whispered back.

“It’s so irrefutable,” Mabel echoed.

“I’m gonna get to use my nightstick!” Deputy Durland whispered excitedly.

“You ready? You ready, little fella?” Blubs asked Durland.

They both giggled excitedly while lightly hitting each other with their nightsticks.

Stevonnie counted down, “On three, one, two, three!”

The five of them busted into the building.

“Nobody move! This is a raid!” Blubs shouted.

They pointed their flashlights at Toby Determined, who fell out of his swivel chair.

“Aah! What is this? Some kind of raid?” Toby said, surprised.

Deputy Durland knocked over a lamp with his nightstick.

Dipper walked up to Toby, “Toby Determined, you are under arrest for the murder of the wax body of Grunkle Stan!”

Mabel joined him, “You have the right to remain impressed with our awesome detective work.”

Dipper, Mabel and Stevonnie gave each other high fives.

“Gobbling goose feathers! I don’t understand!” Toby exclaimed, standing up.

“Then allow me to explain,” Dipper said, “you were hoping that Grunkle Stan’s new attraction would be the story that saved your failing newspaper. But when the show was a flop, you decided to go out and make your own headline. But you were sloppy, and all the clues pointed to a shabby-shoed reporter who was caught left-handed.”

“Toby Determined, you’re yesterday’s news,” Mabel quipped.

Dipper smiled in triumph.

There was a pause of silence before Toby spoke.

“Boy, your knees must be sore from jumping to conclusions! I had nothing to do with that murder!”

“I knew it- wait what did you say? Nothing?” Dipper said.

Sheriff Blubs Stared skeptically at Toby, “Then where were you the night of the break-in?”

“Um…” Toby turned around and grabbed a VHS out of his closet before putting it in the TV. The image that popped up was of the very room they were standing in, but it had only Toby. He looked over his shoulder before opening a cabinet and pulling something out.

“Finally we can be alone,” TV Toby said, “cardboard cut-out of female news reporter, Shandra Jimenez!” TV Toby then proceeded to make out with the cardboard cutout, earning a chorus of ews from the rest of the people in the room.

“Time stamp confirms it. Toby, you’re off the hook, you freak of nature.” Blubs said.

“Hurray!” Toby cheered.

“But… but it has to be him!” Dipper stuttered.

“I’d say check the ax for prints, but it has all of our fingerprints on it,” Stevonnie said.

“I got a new headline for ya, ‘City kids waste everyone’s time,” Durland laughed. Blubs and Toby joined them.

“Hey, what’s your guys’s problem?” Stevonnie asked, stepping in front of the twins.

“What do you mean?” Blubs asked.

“You three are full grown adults picking on two kids that were just trying to help their great uncle. Laughing at them isn’t going to solve any problems other than feed your egos! You three should be ashamed of yourselves,” They huffed before ushering Dipper and Mable out of the building, “Come on, it’s getting late. Let’s get you two back home.”

They walked in silence for a few minutes before Dipper spoke.

“Thank you…”

Stevonnie smiled, “Don’t worry about it, I’m used to telling adults off by now. Well, Steven is,” Stevonnie smiled, but Dipper could tell there was a hint of sadness behind it. “I should probably unfuse.”

Suddenly, Stevonnie turned into a figure of light before growing shorter and splitting. The light faded and Steven and Connie stood in front of them, holding hands. They didn’t let go. Connie rubbed her thumb over the back of Steven’s hand, letting him know she was there. He gave her hand a small squeeze, letting her know that he appreciated her being there.

“So, I bet Stan has that service ready by now, we should get going,” Connie said. They walked back to the Shack in silence.

————-

They all sat in the room they found wax figures in, which was now filled with chairs that Stan managed to fit the figures into.

“Kids, Soos, Steven, Connie, lifeless wax figures, thank you all for coming. Some people might say it’s wrong for a man to love a wax replica of himself-“

“They’re wrong!” Soos shouted, cutting Stan off.

“Easy, Soos,” Stan turned towards the casket, “Wax Stan, I hope you’re picking pockets in wax heaven. I’m sorry, I got glitter in my eye!” Stan rushed out of the room, followed by Soos. Steven stood up, wanting to go console Stan, but Dipper spoke,

“Those cops were right about me.”

It seemed he was needed here more. Soos was already talking to Stan. He sat back down and faced Dipper.

“Those cops were just lazy and took their boredom out on you,” He said.

“Yeah, we’ve come so far. We can’t give up now,” Mabel said.

Dipper stood up, “But I considered everything: the weapon, the motive, the clues,”

Dipper walked over and looked into the casket, “Huh. Wax Stan’s shoe has a whole in it.”

Mabel stood up and looked at Wax Stan’s shoe as well. “All the wax guys have that. It’s where the pole-thingy attached to their stand-dealies.”

Steven and Connie stood up and joined them.

“You don’t think...“ Connie asked.

“I do,” Dipper said.

“Think what?” Mabel asked.

“Mabel, the murders are-“ Dipper started before being cut off.

“Standing right behind you?” The voice said.

The four of them turned around and saw all the wax figures coming to life with groans and moans. The one that had spoken was a wax figure of Sherlock Holmes, who was the first figure to stand up.

One of the wax figures took the ax out of Mabel’s hand. Steven and Connie stood in front of the twins. 

“Congratulations, my amateur sleuths. You’ve unburied the truth. And now we are going to bury you,” Wax Sherlock Holmes said.

Steven summoned his shield, “No, you’re not. You have to go through us first.”

“Well, at least let me give a congratulations to Dipper Pines, who discovered our little secret,” Wax Sherlock reached into his coat and pulled out Wax Stan’s head.

“Applaud everyone, applaud sarcastically,” The wax figures started to clap slowly.

“But, how is this possible,” Connie asked, “You’re made of wax!”

“Are you… magic?” Mabel asked.

Wax Sherlock laughed, “Are we magic? She wants to know if we’re magic!” He took a step towards then, “We’re cursed!”

“Cursed! Cursed! The rest of the figures echoed.

“Cursed to come to life whenever the moon is waxing,” He sighed, “Your uncle bought us many years ago at a garage sale. And so the mystery Shack Wax Collection was born. By day we would be the playthings of man.”

“But when your uncle went to sleep, we would rule the night,” Wax Coolio added.

Wax Sherlock continued, “It was a charmed life for us cursed beings. That is, until your uncle closed up shop. We’ve been waiting ten years to get our revenge on Stan for locking us away. But we got the wrong guy.”

“Wait a minute, you were going to kill Stan for real?” Steven asked, a little shocked.

“Did you have any thought about what would happen after? To the Shack, to the twins, to YOU?” Steven questioned.

There was a pause before Wax Sherlock spoke, “No, I guess we didn’t think of the aftermath.”

“Wax people are creepy,” Mabel said.

“Enough!” He proclaimed, “Now that you four know our little secret, you must die.”

All the wax figures eyes rolled up so that you could only see the whites. They started to approach the four of them. Steven raised his shield while Connie raised her fists.

“Too bad you don’t have your sword,” Steven quipped, “You’d be through these guys in ten second flat!”

Connie smiled, “At least Pearl taught me hand-to-hand combat, then I wouldn't be able to take them out in thirty seconds flat!” 

Suddenly things started to fly out from behind them and Steven turned to see Dipper and Mabel throwing things off of the snack table. Dipper grabbed a pot of coffee and threw it on Wax Ghengis Khan’s face, which proceeded to melt while he gave out a pained scream.

“That’s it! We can melt them with hot things!” Mabel exclaimed. 

She grabbed four of the fake long candles from the table and threw two to Steven and Connie, while handing the third to her brother.

“Use this!” She said.

They all held the fake candles in front of them, threatening the figures.

“Nobody move, or we’ll melt you all into candles!” Dipper shouted.

“Decorative candles!” Mabel added.

“You really think you can defeat us?” Wax Sherlock asked.

Connie looked at Steven and winked.

“Absolutely,” She said.

Steven winked at Mabel and Dipper, “Watch this,” he whispered.

“So be it, Attack!” Wax Sherlock yelled.

The wax figures rushed towards them as Connie rushed them. One of them brought the ax down on her, but he easily dodged it, and used the fake candle to melt the figure’s head. Wax Shakespeare then tried to grab at her, but she ducked down and swiped the candle up, cutting off his arms. He yelped. A figure snuck up behind her and tried to put her in a headlock. But she just grabbed his arms and threw him over herself, slamming him on the ground. She used the candle to decapitate him and throw the head into the fireplace.

“Wow…” Mabel and Dipper said in unison.

Steven smiled, “I know right.”

Man, he loved that girl.

Wax Larry King managed to sneak up to Steven, who quickly turned around and beheaded him.

“My neck! My beautiful neck!” He yelled.

Wax Groucho tried to grab the candle out of Dipper’s hand, but foolishly grabbed at the light bulb, melting his hand. Dipper slashed the candle across his body, cutting him in half.

“Joke’s on you, Groucho!” He said.

“I’ve heard about a cutting remark, but this is ridiculous,” Wax Groucho joked while his torso slid to the ground.

Half-melted Wax Ghengis Khan charged at Connie, who dodged, causing him to fly right into the fireplace. Mabel was swinging Wax Coolio’s decapitated head around like a lasso, knocking over all the figures surrounding her.

“Dipper, Look out!” She yelled.

Wax Sherlock took a sword off a mount on the wall and knocked the candle out of Dipper’s hand.

“Dipper, catch!” Mabel shouted, throwing him a red hot poker.

Wax Sherlock swiped down, only to be blocked by Dipper’s new weapon. They started to move out of the room and were gone by the time Steven noticed.

“You got this, right?” Steven shouted towards Connie.

She slashed at the Queen’s ankles, causing her to fall over.

“Yeah, go help Dipper!” She shouted back.

Steven ran out of the room and up the stairs, where he heard the clang of metal on metal. When he reached the top, he noticed the window was open and climbed out of it. He heard more shouting and quickly climbed over to the other side of the room to see Dipper on the ground, with Wax Sherlock’s sword raised over his head.

“Got any last word,” He heard Wax Sherlock say.

Dipper looked past him and at Steven, then at the rising sun behind Steven. He winked.

“Got any sunscreen?” Dipper asked, looking back at Wax Sherlock Holmes.

“Got any… What?”

Steven thrust out his arm and summoned a shield in front of Dipper as the sun peeked over the trees. The light began to melt Wax Sherlock, starting with the hands holding the sword raised over his head. He gasped.

“You know, letting me lead you outside, probably not your sharpest decision,” Dipper said, standing up. 

Steven lowered the shield and ran over to him, placing himself in front of Dipper, who laughed at his own quip.

“I don’t get it,” Steven said.

“Because he’s Sherlock Holmes, the world’s greatest fictional detective.”

Steven shrugged his shoulders, “did you learn about him at school? Because i didn’t do that.”

Dipper looked at him quizzically, “You didn’t go to school?”

Steven shook his head.

“Outsmarted by s child in short pants? No!” Wax Sherlock cried, pulling them out of their conversation.

They watched as Wax Sherlock became a puddle and slid off the roof.

“Case closed,” Dipper said. 

Steven gave him a pat on the back, “We should get back inside and see how Mabel and Connie are doing.

When they got back to inside, they found Mabel and Connie tossing them dismembered body parts of the wax figures into the fire. Just then, Stan came into the room.

“Hot Belgian waffles! What happened to my parlor?” He yelled.

“Your wax figures turned out to be evil, so we fought them to the death!” Mabel said, smiling. 

“I decapitated Larry Kings,” Dipper said.

Stan looked at Connie and Steven, who nodded. He looked back at the twins. He laughed.

“You kids and your imaginations,”

Dipper picked up Wax Stan’s head and presented it to Stan, “On the bright side, though, look what we found.”

Stan gasped, “My head! I missed this guy. You done good kids! Now line up for some affectionate noogieing.”

He walked over to the protesting twins and gave them both noogies. Suddenly they heard sirens. The five of them looked out the broken window to see Sheriff Blubs and Deputy Durland drive up to the Shack.

“Solve the case yet, boy? I’m so confident you’re going to say no, that I’m going to take a long, slow sip from my cup of coffee,” Blubs said before taking a long, slow slip from his cup of coffee,

Dipper held up Wax Stan’s head, “Actually, the answer is yes.”

Sheriff Blubs spat out his coffee in surprise, right into Deputy Durland’s face, who spat out HIS coffee in surprise into Sheriff Blubs’s face.

“AAAAHH IT BURNS!” Blubs yelled before driving off.

The all laughed as they watched the car drive away.

“They got scalded!” Stan laughed.

“Serves them right,” Mabel said.

“So, did you get rid of all the wax figures?” Dipper asked Mabel.

“I am 99% sure that I did,” Mabel smiled.

“Good enough for me,” Dipper responded.

“You kids want some breakfast? I was gonna make bacon and eggs,” Stan asked.

Steven's stomach growled.

“I could go for some food right now,” he said.

The rest of the group agreed and they all went inside to get breakfast. 

____

After breakfast, Steven went back to his room to see Connie packing up.

“Going so soon?” He asked.

She smiled, “Yeah, I realize you have things pretty much in control here, and besides, Ihave to get back to my summer classes.”

She and Steven walked outside. 

She gave Steven a kiss on the cheek, “If you need anything just call.”

With that, she gave a whistle, and they saw Lion poke his head out from behind a bush and run over to them. She climbed atop of his back and gave Steven a wave, then a wave to someone behind him. He turned around to see Dipper and Mabel waving back. He also saw Stan watching them through the kitchen window. Connie leaned down and gave Steven one last kiss before patting Lion’s side.

“Okay buddy,”

Lion roared and a pink ball of light erupted from his mouth and shot forward a few feet, where it widened into a flat disk. She waved to them all once more before both she and Lion disappeared through the disk of pink light, which faded behind them.


End file.
